


Hide And Seek

by dreamcatcher (darcangell23)



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hostage Situations, Investigation, M/M, Mentions of Murder, Ransom, Threats, Violence, Witness Protection Program
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-16 01:05:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darcangell23/pseuds/dreamcatcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After witnessing a murder one night when walking home from the Lima Bean, Kurt and his family are placed in the Witness Protection Program and shipped to London, England where the boys join Dalton Academy under false identities. But what happens when the attacker has intel that tells him exactly where he can find Kurt? It takes the help of a familiar curly-haired boy with junior police training to help keep Kurt safe and at the same time, track down the attacker's intel. But they might be closer than Kurt and Blaine think. Rating might go up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Witness Protection

**Author's Note:**

> So, I didn't want to put this up until I'd written a fair bit of it because I really hate waiting for chapters when a story is so good. As of right now, this story has nine completed chapters and I am in the middle of writing the tenth. I'll upload one a day at the moment.
> 
> There is no interaction between out boys in this chapter and you will fall in love with the fedora. But that doesn't come until chapter two. You'll see, it's part of Kurt's fake persona.
> 
> Comments make me smile and feedback is always appreciated! Happy reading!

Kurt stared out the window of the plane, eyes seeing nothing but pitch black sky on the horizon. He sighed heavily.

 

You would think the prospect of flying to England would be extremely exciting. But under the current circumstances, it was less than thrilling. Finn still refused to talk to him, convinced it was all Kurt's fault that he had to leave his girlfriend Rachel behind for an indeterminate amount of time, despite the fact that investigators had explained this was in no way Kurt's fault. They were taking safety precautions.

 

Finn's biggest irritation was having to lie to Rachel. Not being able to tell her they were leaving, moving away. He didn't like that because of Kurt, they had to up and move without a trace. And he thought Kurt was even more pleased by it?

 

Kurt sighed and tore his eyes from the window, pulling out his passport with the fake ID information.

 

Tristan Michael West was written beneath his picture. That was the name the officers in the Witness Protection Program had given him. Kurt was now Tristan. Finn was Aidan West and their parts were Carl and Angie West. In a sense, Finn was now supposed to act as though he were really Kurt's older brother instead of his stepbrother.

 

A hand fell in a reassuring manner onto Kurt's arm and he looked up, catching his dad's eye.

 

"Don't worry kiddo," Burt Hummel said. "They'll catch the guy and we'll be back home and safe again before you know it."

 

Kurt let another sigh fall from his lips. "For Finn's sake," he whispered, "I hope you're right dad." He returned his gaze to the window, clearly indicating that the discussion was over.

 

Kurt let his thoughts wander to only a mere few days earlier when the unthinkable had happened.

* * *

A FEW DAYS PRIOR

 

"Don't worry about me dad. I'll be fine. It's not that bad of a walk," Kurt spoke into his phone as he strode along the sidewalk, heading towards home. The new house that they had moved into after Burt had married Carole was a lot closer to The Lima Bean than the old one had been. Kurt felt the need to not have to drive as much. And so, he was walking home, after dark from the coffee shop. He spent countless hours after school studying there. With the Neanderthals growing in their torment of him everyday, lead on by David Karofsky, Kurt didn't feel safe spending any longer at school than was necessary. And though he was trying, Finn was still kind of oblivious.

 

So Kurt went to The Lima Bean to study. Sure he could have gone home but he valued the solitude he got while he was there. He was also quite addicted to his usual order of a grande non-fat mocha.

 

Burt sighed on the other end of the line. "I get it Kurt. But I don't understand why you don't just go there straight after school so you can drive home. I'd feel much safer without worrying about you walking alone in the dark with the kind of people in this town."

 

Kurt felt his heart swell. Every time his dad expressed how much Kurt's protection and security mattered to him, the sophomore felt even more loved by the man.

 

"And waste unnecessary gas?" Kurt asked, giving his head a short shake. "Dad, you're a mechanic. You should be well aware by know of the ridiculous gas prices these days. I'm not wasting gas when The Lima Bean is only a few minutes' walk away from home. Besides, I'd rather not risk the chance of coffee being spilled on my Marc Jacobs sweater."

 

Burt chuckled lightly on the other end of the line.

 

"Kid, you're too careful to spill coffee, especially on your oh so expensive clothing," he teased. Kurt could practically hear his dad rolling his eyes.

 

"I know I'm careful. Doesn't mean everyone is dad," he retorted.

 

Burt just chuckled again. "Whatever you say kid. Just get home quickly, yeah?"

 

"I'll be there soon dad, I promise," Kurt assured him.

 

Burt gave a knowing grunt before saying good-bye and hanging up.

 

Kurt had only walked a few more steps when he heard a sudden involuntary scream and turned his head sharply to the side. A noise like scuffling was coming from the small alleyway he was passing by.

 

Against his better judgment, the sixteen year old cautiously turned down the alley.

 

"Hello?" Kurt called hesitantly.

 

The shadow of a figure turned his head sharply and Kurt caught cold gray eyes shining in the little light of the moon peeking from around one of the buildings.

 

Kurt's eyes roamed in momentary fear down the figure who was holding the limp body of a young woman in one arm and a knife covered in something dark Kurt could only figure was blood.

 

With a thud, the figure dropped the body to the ground. He held up the knife so it flashed in the light and Kurt caught the sparkle of the dark red substance slathering the end of the blade. He swallowed hard.

 

"Normally," the man ground out, "Girly little faggots aren't interesting enough for me to slice and dice, but seeing as you have just witnessed the death of this woman, I'm afraid I can't let you live."

 

Kurt blinked. It took until the guy had taken one step toward him for him to come to his senses. Hastily, he turned on his heel and ran, his Doc Martens pounding the pavement. He could hear the man behind him, attempting to gain on him. Luckily, Kurt was much more youthful and in better shape so he was faster.

 

It didn't make much difference though. The guy was huffing and puffing behind him but pressed to run faster, the knife still gleaming in his hand.

 

Kurt could feel the beat of his heart pounding in his chest as he managed to reach his house at full sprint. He sharply turned up the driveway, cutting his speed down a bit and allowing the guy to catch up. He was gaining but Kurt already had his house key out. Reaching the door, he hastily shoved it into the lock and thanked a God he didn't believe in that he wasn't struggling.

 

Hearing the lock click, Kurt threw open the door, dashed into the house, slamming it behind him again just as the guy reached the step. There was a loud thud as he ran right into the door.

 

"Dad!" Kurt breathed, pressing flat against the door as Burt, Carole, and Finn came running into the room. The man was pounding on the door, screaming for Kurt to come out and that he was going to find him and skin him alive. "Call the police!"

* * *

 

 

The attacker had continued to torment the Hummel house, pounding at the door and moving to shout in through the windows until he heard the sirens of the cop cars. He'd shouted that it wasn't over and ran off.

 

Kurt came back to himself on the plane, not really sure how long he had been lost in the horrid memory. The attacker had gotten away that night but after taking the family's statements and questioning Kurt, the police had decided they couldn't take any chances. With the man still at large and Kurt's life visibly threatened by him, he wasn't safe in Lima. Maybe not even in Ohio.

 

The Columbus Police Department had been called in and before he knew what had happened, Kurt and his family were placed in the Witness Protection Program, given new identities, and were currently being shipped to England to start new lives.

 

Finn was infuriated because it meant dropping everything and just vanishing from his life, leaving Rachel with a million unanswered questions.

 

Kurt wasn't much better. He didn't like leaving his close friends all of the sudden without knowing what was going on. Not to mention, New Directions was now two members down and it would be a miracle if they managed to scrape two new members by Sectionals in a couple of weeks. Or else they were out of the running.

 

"Did you know we have to wear uniforms?" asked a sudden voice. Kurt looked up to see Finn leaning over the back of his seat to look at him. The pale boy raised an eyebrow.

 

"Any particular reason why you're talking to me?" he asked. Finn had been doing nothing but giving Kurt the evil eye ever since he found out about this whole Witness Protection thing.

 

Finn had the decency to look sheepish. With one hand he scratched the back of his head and in the other, he held the brochure for Dalton Academy, the all boys private boarding school the police had gotten them enrolled in once they got to London.

 

"Look, I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault. You didn't ask that guy to chase you home." Kurt gave him a look as if asking that he finally figured that out.

 

"Took you long enough," he grumbled, eyes going back to the window. Finn managed a weak smile.

 

"Sorry. So did you?" he said.

 

"Did I what?" Kurt replied, not taking his eyes from the window.

 

Finn sighed. "Did you know we have to wear uniforms?" he repeated.

 

Kurt turned his eyes on him again. "Two things. One, it's a private boarding school, so uniforms are kind of obvious. And two, it's London. Europe, from what I know, has few non-uniform required schools so even if it wasn't private, we might be wearing one anyway."

 

Finn looked sheepish again. "Oh," he replied.

 

No more words were exchanged and the whole family lapped into silence. Burt had fallen asleep next to Kurt. Carole was likely reading a novel. Finn was probably still studying the Dalton brochure or listening to music. And Kurt continued his staring out of the window, thoughts running through his head at top notch speed. This was going to be a long flight.

 

* * *

 

Blaine Anderson flinched at the pounding on his dorm room door. He knew immediately who it was and still wondered how the boy could be British and not have any manners.

 

"Blaine Warbler! We're going to be late for Warblers practice if you don't come out of there right now!" Blaine flinched again.

 

Letting out an aggravated sigh, the boy stopped his straightening of his pillows and walked to the door. He pulled it open just enough for the overly hyper blonde boy to see him.

 

"I guess you didn't get the memo Jeffrey," Blaine said.

 

"Don't call me Jeffrey," the boy responded wrinkling his nose.

 

"I'll call you whatever I want Jeffrey," Blaine replied with a smirk. The other boy shook his head.

 

"Whatever. Are you coming or not?" he asked.

 

Blaine sighed again and looked momentarily down at the floor. "I told you you didn't get the memo," he said.

 

"What memo?" Jeff asked.

 

"I was notified this morning that I will be getting a roommate come tomorrow. He's from America. So I told Wes that I needed the time to prepare for his arrival. I've been excused from Warbler practice today on Wes' consent," Blaine told him.

 

The blonde boy frowned. "How are we supposed to practice without our lead singer?" he asked.

 

The curly haired boy just shrugged. "Wes must not be that worried about it since he consented. I'll see you later Jeff," he said, going to shut the door. Jeff put a hand in his way to stop him. "What?"

 

"Wait, did you say an American boy was transferring here?" he asked, the excitement in his eyes growing.

 

Blaine gave an irritated eye roll. "Yes. Two actually. They're brothers from what I've been told. The younger one is meant to be my roommate."

 

Jeff positively squealed with excitement. "Oh Blainers! Maybe you'll get a boyfriend!" he cried, happily clapping his hands together.

 

"Good-bye Jeffrey," Blaine said before shutting the door quickly and leaning against it with a sigh. He loved his friends but sometimes Jeff could just be a bit much.

 

Blaine sat down on his bed and stared at the empty side of the room. Soon. Very soon, that side would be occupied by another boy. One who could tell him all about America.

 

Blaine had wanted to go to America for as long as he could remember. He hoped that he could go to college abroad in New York. For music and performing. Maybe be on Broadway. He knew that London had the West End which was the Broadway of England but he somehow didn't feel right.

 

If you wanted to be technical, Blaine was actually born in America. But his parents had proven to not be fit parents within weeks of his birth and with court lawsuits, he and his brother Cooper were shipped to London to be raised by their paternal grandparents. While Cooper had grown up a great deal as the American he was born to be, Blaine had spent his entire life aside from those first weeks, being raised a Brit. It was why he had the accent and why he knew nothing about American culture and why he wanted to go there so badly when he graduated high school.

 

Cooper was no longer in England. The moment he'd graduated, he'd packed up and moved to California. Blaine kind of resented him for it, wondering why he didn't take him with him.

 

Blaine's friends in the Warblers didn't know any of this. They didn't have a clue that Blaine was born in the United States. His father had grown up in England, which was why that was where his grandparents lived. But Blaine had told his friends that his parents had died in a car accident when he was young. He could never figure out why he didn't want them to know the truth. He just didn't.

 

Besides, they weren't there. They weren't there when he'd been attacked at his old school. Sure, that didn't really have anything to do with it but that wasn't the point. The point was that after the attack, Blaine was hesitant about opening up too much to people. He was polite, friendly, and dapper enough, but he was scared to let anyone get too close. What if they had connections with people who would do that to him? Beat him up just for being himself?

 

The only big secret about who he was that he'd let out was that he was gay and proud of it. And the reason why was because Blaine could never forgive himself for hiding in the closet when he wasn't even ashamed of who he was. And besides, he did not want to be answering odd questions when he didn't fawn over the girls at one of the coed dance functions held between Dalton Academy and sister school Crawford Country Day.

 

So his friends knew Blaine was gay. But everything else about his private life, he kept well under wraps. He was lucky no one questioned him.

 

Now though, with the prospect of this truly American boy coming to Dalton, he wondered if there just might be someone who he could confide in.

 

That fact scared Blaine right down to his very core.


	2. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so here is chapter two where Blaine and Kurt meet for the first time except Kurt is introduced to Blaine as Tristan West. And enter the fedora! Also, if you want an idea of Blaine sounding British, GLEEonFOX tweeted a video on YouTube yesterday about what the actors would say to their characters. Darren, Kevin, and Jenna all answered with British accents for some weird reason but it helps! Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

Kurt was shaken awake some time later by his dad. "Wake up kiddo, we landed," Burt said, gently shaking Kurt's arm.

 

The boy blinked his eyes open. When had he fallen asleep? Why did he have such a horrible crick in his neck? He turned his gaze on the window and noticed that it was daylight outside. The plane had landed and was slowly making its way to taxi into the gate.

 

He yawned warily before realization snapped him wide awake. These were his last few moments of being Kurt Hummel. The moment he stepped off the plane, he would have to become Tristan West. But who was Tristan West? Kurt supposed he would find out the moment he became him.

 

Kurt was well aware that when they went to the baggage claim, they were meant to be looking for a police officer holding a sign that said 'West Family'. They weren't taking any chances, even half way across the world.

 

As they were gathering their carry on belongings and preparing to step off the plane a few minutes later, Kurt cleared his throat.

 

"Okay, I know I'm the resident actor in this family," he addressed them when he'd gotten their attention. "But with a new identity," he went on, keeping his voice low so only his family could hear him. "Should come a new personality." He looked at Finn. "That means Aidan should be someone different from Finn."

 

Finn blanched. "Dude, I don't know if I can do that."

 

Kurt looked momentarily irritated. He reached into his carry on and pulled out a fedora, perching it on his head. "You don't have a choice Aidan," he said before slinging the bag over his shoulder and heading down the plane's aisle. "And don't call me dude!" That caused Finn to smile as he, Burt, and Carole all followed Kurt off the plane.

 

* * *

 

Luckily, it was Saturday so Blaine hadn't had to worry about getting the day off from classes. As the roommate of one of the two new American students arriving at Dalton that morning, Blaine was automatically assigned to be the boy's guide for the next week at least. He hoped he would be able to make a friend.

 

There was a knock on the dorm door and Blaine blinked in confusion. It was still rather early. He couldn't be here yet right? Blaine glanced at the schedule the Headmaster had given him. No. Right now, they would probably just be arriving at the airport, maybe leaving it at the most. Unless of course their plane was delayed. So who was at his door?

 

"Blaine?" called a voice, followed by a tentative second knock.

 

Trent.

 

Blaine let out a sigh and opened the door for his friend. "G'morning Trent. To what do I owe this honor?"

 

Trent blushed and clasped his hands in front of himself, glancing shyly at the ground. It was no secret that Trent Nixon, big lovable teddy bear, had a crush on Blaine. It was cute and sweet and broke Blaine's heart because he didn't see Trent as anything more than a friend. He had to give him credit for trying though.

 

"I um…I was wondering if you would like to get a tea with me?" Trent asked nervously. Blaine frowned apologetically. Being so polite as he was, he normally would have said yes, even though it would have likely got Trent's hopes up for something happening between them. But today, he actually was busy because he had to be there when his new roommate arrived. So, he didn't have a choice.

 

"Oh. I'm so sorry Trent but I can't. My new roommate, one of the boys from America, is arriving this morning. I'm supposed to be here when he gets here," he said, speaking in the most apologetic tone he could muster.

 

"You too?" Trent asked in surprise. Blaine furrowed his brow in confusion. "David told me the same thing and I only asked him as a friend," he explained.

 

Blaine sighed and ran a hand over his face. Before something dawned on him. "Wait, I thought David was rooming with Wes," he said shortly.

 

Trent shrugged. This didn't make any sense. Blaine shook his head again.

 

"I don't know what David's problem is but I promise you I'm not lying." He re-entered the room and came back with the schedule. "Here's a copy of the travel itinerary if you don't believe me." Trent carefully took the paper from him and Blaine saw his face fall a little.

 

"Thank you for telling me the truth at least Blaine. Maybe another time. Have fun with your new roommate."

 

Blaine watched Trent as he slowly walked away. He felt bad. Trent was a really sweet guy and someday, he would find someone who would want to embrace that sweetness but that someone wasn't Blaine.

 

Sighing heavily, Blaine shut the door and continued making preparations for the arrival of his new roommate.

 

* * *

 

So apparently, Tristan was a guy who didn't really give a fuck about anyone or anything. The ignore-you-few-word-answers type of guy. And that was fine with Kurt, mainly because he didn't want to risk getting attached to anyone here. He didn't know how long he'd be in London and it would break his heart to get close to someone and then have to leave all of a sudden.

 

Which kind of presented another issue. No matter who he met or what kind of person Tristan turned out to be, Kurt would be outright lying to them right from the get go and he absolutely hated that. But, he didn't have a choice.

 

Kurt studied his nails, a bored expression on his face as the cop piled their luggage into the trunk while discussing the plan with Burt in hushed voices.

 

"Dude," Finn said, leaning over to whisper in Kurt's ear. "Cops dress weird here." Kurt gave him an incredulous look.

 

"Don't insult the locals, Aidan," he replied, putting emphasis on the name. "And don't call me dude," he added in a much more Kurt fashion.

 

Before Finn could reply, Kurt was ushered into the back seat of the car and quickly slid in. Finn sighed and followed him.

 

"So what's the plan?" Kurt asked when they were all in the car and pulling out to leave the airport. Finn was more preoccupied with gawking at the driver's side being on the right rather than the left.

 

Burt turned his head to look back at his son. "We're taking you boys straight to Dalton and then Officer Bradley will be taking your mother and I to the house we've been arranged to have," he replied.

 

Finn stopped gawking at the driver and looked at Burt. "Shouldn't we put on those uniforms or whatever than?" he asked.

 

Kurt rolled his eyes. "We don't have the uniforms yet you idiot. Besides, it's Saturday. We could hardly be expected to wear uniforms on Saturday."

 

"You'd be surprised young Master West," the cop said. Kurt blinked. Boy did that feel weird. "Private boarding schools can sometimes have a rule that students are to be in uniform at every mealtime, despite whether or not it's a weekend."

 

Kurt's eyes widened and the next thing that came out of his mouth was so Kurt-like, it had Finn snorting with laughter.

 

"Every moment is a moment for fashion! How am I supposed to express myself if I'm spending twenty-four-seven in a damn uniform that looks just like everyone else's?" he snapped, glaring at Finn for laughing at him. Finn quickly shut his mouth.

 

"See that's the thing lad. Here in London, we believe in all our students being equals. Our schools don't really have what you Americans call cliques." He smiled through the rearview mirror at Kurt. "Keeps everyone properly well behaved."

 

Kurt folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah that's because they're all mindless drones with no sense of individuality," he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Carole heard him.

 

"Tristan Michael West, that was entirely uncalled for," she said firmly. Kurt had to wonder why she didn't say his real name before it dawned on him. The cop was aware of the situation but he didn't know what their real names were. That was kind of weird considering he knew that Kurt really wasn't Tristan Michael West. Where the hell had the police come up with that name anyway? He couldn't wait to return to Ohio and become Kurt Elizabeth Hummel again.

 

It was silent for quite sometime after that, Kurt fixing his eyes on the window, much like he had done on the plane.

 

"Holy shit!" Finn cried suddenly, causing Kurt to jump and look over at him.

 

"Fi—Aidan Kyle West! Language!" Carole said, very nearly forgetting she needed to call Finn Aidan.

 

Kurt snickered. Finn seemed not to notice. He was gawking out the front car window and Kurt turned to see whatever had put him in such a state.

 

They were driving through the gates and up the drive to a very large elaborate old-fashioned building. It had to have at least four floors and Kurt had to wonder if it wasn't the size of Buckingham Palace. This was a school?

 

"Is this Buckingham Palace?" Finn asked, almost in synch with Kurt's thoughts, which caused the younger boy to shudder slightly but he recovered quickly and rolled his eyes.

 

"No you idiot," he said. Boy, Tristan really didn't care about people. Kurt never would have called his stepbrother an idiot. Nor would he have rolled his eyes so much or snickered when Finn was scolded. He became slightly afraid that he would end up losing his own sense of self.

 

Finn looked at him, frowning. "I'm not sure I'm going to like Tristan too much."

 

Kurt sighed. "Me either," he said, returning his gaze to the window as the car pulled to a stop in front of the entrance.

 

"Welcome to Dalton Academy boys," said the cop. "Everybody out."

 

Kurt straightened the fedora as he got out of the car, walking out of Kurt Hummel and into Tristan West. This was going to be a very interesting but hurtful experience.

 

* * *

 

Blaine and Thad, a fellow Warbler who was on the council with Wes and David, were standing in the entrance hall, both dressed quite casually as it was Saturday. They were awaiting the arrival of the two American boys who would be their roommates. Turned out David had a morning study date with his girlfriend and for some reason didn't want to tell Trent as much so he'd said he was receiving one of the new students as his roommate. Blaine couldn't figure out why. David had never been embarrassed about dates before.

 

Thad was to be receiving the elder of the two Americans and so both were anxiously awaiting their arrival.

 

"What do you think they'll be like?" Thad asked.

 

Blaine shrugged. "Don't know but they can't be much different from us, aside from the fact that maybe we have better manners than they do."

 

Thad laughed at that. "Do you think they like football?" he asked. Blaine cocked an eyebrow.

 

"Do you mean soccer?" Thad looked confused and Blaine became aware that he didn't know that much about America, which surprised him because this was something he thought all Brits knew. "What we call football, they call soccer. What they call football is an entirely different sport in America, much similar to rugby."

 

Thad was fascinated by this and the fact that Blaine seemed to know so much about American culture, though he really didn't know as much as Thad might have thought, despite having been born there.

 

It was then that they heard the crunch of wheels on the gravel drive just outside. Both boys looked at each other and at that moment, the Headmaster entered the entrance hall.

 

"Mr. Anderson, Mr. Harwood, I trust you are both ready to greet your new American roommates?" he said. Both boys stood quickly and bowed their heads slightly out of respect.

 

"Yes sir," Blaine said. Thad nodded his head carefully.

 

"Good. That would be them than. Please follow me out. You should help them with their bags," the man replied. Blaine watched him straighten his tie as he stood tall and headed out of the front doors. The two boys glanced at each other before following.

 

Outside, five people were getting out of the car that had just come to a stop. A cop, which confused Blaine greatly as he had no idea why a cop would escort the new family to Dalton. A man and a woman he suspected were the parents and two boys. One was extremely tall with an expression of awe on his face. The other, while taller than Blaine, was not as tall as his brother but he had a slender physique, pale skin, and a bored look on his face. A fashionable fedora was perched atop his head. Blaine found himself drawn to this boy for some unknown reason.

 

"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. West," the Headmaster said, moving down the steps to greet the man and the woman. "I am Headmaster Gilbert," he went. "It's such a pleasure to welcome your sons to Dalton."

 

Blaine tuned out the conversation between Headmaster Gilbert and the parents and instead continued to look at the two boys.

 

It was then that he really took notice of the difference between them and furrowed his brow in confusion. "Hey Thad?" he asked.

 

"Hm?" the boy replied.

 

"They don't look very much like brothers do they?" Thad turned to look at Blaine, who still had his eyes fixed on the boys. "I mean, they don't really look anything alike," he explained. Blaine neglected to tell Thad that he was particularly drawn to the shorter one, the bored looking boy with the fedora.

 

Thad turned his gaze on the two boys and studied them for a minute. "You're right, they don't." He gave his head a short shake. "Makes you wonder if mummy had an affair."

 

Blaine turned his head to him sharply, a horrified look on his face.

 

"Thad!" he cried. The other boy shrugged. "You shouldn't assume about people you know," he went on. Thad shrugged again.

 

Blaine let out a harsh breath. Being a second year high school student while Thad was a third year, you would think that Blaine would be the one with the lesser manners but he had always been raised to proper etiquette.

 

It was then that Headmaster Gilbert motioned for the two of them to come forward.

 

"This is it," Thad said as he and Blaine made their way down the steps and toward the American family. "Which one do you think is going to be your roommate?" he asked.

 

"Not a clue," Blaine replied, though he hoped beyond hope it was the boy with the fedora.

 

* * *

 

Kurt was glad he was such a good actor. If he had been allowed to be Kurt, he would have been marveling at the school, making witty comments on its exterior and probably on the interior later too. But he couldn't be Kurt. He had to be Tristan. So instead, he plastered a bored expression on his face and fixed his eyes on the ground.

 

Beside him, Finn was still gawking at the school. Kurt had a feeling that Aidan was going to be just like Finn anyway. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

 

Kurt paid no attention to the discussion going on between his parents and the Headmaster. The cop was getting his and Finn's bags out of the trunk. He was lost in his own mind. That was until he was addressed.

 

"Young Masters West," the Headmaster said. Kurt immediately looked in his direction but Finn ignored him and Kurt ended up elbowing him in the side.

 

"Ah!" Finn cried rubbing his side and glaring at Kurt who merely nodded at the Headmaster. Finn looked over at the man sheepishly.

 

"I am Headmaster Gilbert and I am so pleased to welcome you both to Dalton Academy. I'm sure you'll be quite comfortable here." He smiled warmly. Kurt thought he would like this man but Tristan continued to look bored and uninterested.

 

"What about girls?" Finn blurted out, cutting into whatever else the Headmaster had been about to say. Kurt glared at him. It was a Kurt glare but it would have worked for Tristan too.

 

"Girls are a waste of time Aidan," he said, failing to notice the two boys that were approaching and the somewhat hopeful expression that dawned one of them. Kurt would have stopped there but he wasn't Kurt, he was Tristan. "Boys are a waste of time." He didn't notice the hopeful boy's face fall. "People in general are a waste of time. This is a waste of time. Call me when we can go back to California," he finished, turning his head away and staring off into space.

 

So it appeared Tristan wasn't happy about the big move. That worked because Kurt wasn't happy about it either. And California was part of their backstory. The West family was from Los Angeles, California and Mr. West worked for an international company who had just relocated him to offices overseas in London. Mrs. West was a housewife who spent her time raising their two boys Aidan and Tristan.

 

Kind of a pathetic backstory if you asked Kurt. He could have done better than that. But whatever. It is what it is.

 

"Don't worry," spoke up one of the two boys who had approached and it was then that Kurt noticed them for the first time. "We have plenty of functions with Dalton's sister school Crawford Country Day. You'll have lots of girls to socialize with then."

 

Kurt had barely looked at this boy when his focus was drawn by the other one. He swallowed the lump that immediately formed in his throat. This boy was absolutely gorgeous.

 

He was definitely a couple of inches shorter than Kurt. His hair was neatly gelled back. He had tan skin and triangular eyebrows. His eyes were a beautiful mix of honey and hazel. He wore a genuine smile on his face and he was dressed in dark wash skinny jeans, a button down shirt, and a dark blue cardigan. A white bow tie was fixed around his neck and he was wearing black dress shoes with no socks. Kurt strongly approved.

 

It took all of Kurt's willpower not to break character as Tristan because he was quite sure he was already developing a crush on this boy. He couldn't get too close to him because he might not even be in London that long. And, he was lying to him anyway.

 

"Young Masters West," the Headmaster repeated, snapping Kurt's attention back to him. "I'd like to introduce you to Blaine Anderson and Thad Harwood," he went on, indicating the two boys Kurt had just noticed. "They will be your roommates and guides here at Dalton."

 

"So…all of us are in one room?" Finn asked uncomfortably, biting his lip.

 

Blaine laughed and Kurt would be damned if that wasn't the sexiest sound he'd ever heard. He tore his gaze away from the two Dalton boys, hiding his very Kurt-like blush and trying to regain his composure.

 

"No," Blaine replied. God that British accent was hot. "One of you will be rooming with Thad and the other will be rooming with me." Finn relaxed a bit. It was obvious he was remembering the disaster that was trying to room with Kurt at the end of the previous year.

 

"Mr. Aidan West?" Headmaster Gilbert questioned and it took Finn a moment to realize he was talking to him. Kurt had to elbow him again. He prayed to a God he didn't believe in that Finn didn't blow their cover.

 

"Oh, right, that's me," he replied dumbly. Kurt rolled his eyes, folded his arms across his chest and looked away, but not before Blaine caught his eye and for a moment the two of them just stared at each other before Kurt broke his gaze and once more stared at the ground.

 

"You'll be rooming with Thad. He'll show you to your room and help you with your bags." Kurt tensed slightly when the Headmaster said this. If Finn was to room with this Thad kid that meant Kurt would room with the gorgeous one. This whole situation just got that much more complicated.

 

He listened to Thad introducing himself to Finn and helping him with his luggage as the two of them headed off into the school.

 

"So you must be Tristan West," the Headmaster said warmly. Kurt looked him up and down and remained silent, only bothering to acknowledge the comment with a slight nod of his head. He had to keep his focus. "You'll be rooming with Blaine."

 

"Right," Kurt said, grabbing one of his suitcases and pretending like he was bored and just wanted to get this over with. But while Tristan wanted that, Kurt was tempted to get them lost on purpose just to extend his time with the boy. But he wasn't Kurt here.

 

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tristan," Blaine said as he grabbed the rest of Kurt's stuff and hurried to catch him up. Kurt was glad he was in front of Blaine because he cringed at being referred to by his fake name. He wanted so badly to tell Blaine the truth, to be himself, but if he blew his cover, they'd be relocated and Kurt would likely never see Blaine again.

 

"Whatever," he said instead. He figured Blaine would be frowning but when the boy caught him up, Kurt saw the smile still on his face. This was not going to be easy.

 

Kurt knew in that moment that he had to do everything in his power to keep Blaine at arm's length, maybe even further. That was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done.


	3. Back In Lima

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the majority of this chapter takes place in Lima. It mainly concerns Rachel and Mercedes. I had to get them into the main picture somehow as the majority of the story takes place in England. Just so you know, I've never been to England so I apologize for anything that's not accurate. Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, in Lima, Ohio, one Rachel Berry sat on her bed in the very early hours of Saturday morning. That is to say, roughly 5 AM. London was approximately five hours ahead of Ohio and while Kurt and Finn arrived at Dalton at approximately 9:30 AM London time, Rachel had been awake all night flustered.

 

She and Finn had a date scheduled the night before and when Finn failed to show up without even bothering to call, Rachel was both infuriated and concerned. It wasn't like Finn to just stand her up like that.

 

So now she sat on her bed dialing and redialing Finn's cell phone number and every single time, it went straight to voice mail.

 

"Hi, uh…yeah you've reached Finn Hudson—" Rachel quickly hung up the phone and chucked it at the wall in aggravation.

 

The sound must have been loud enough because both of her dads came into the room just then to find their daughter flopped back on the bed still fully dressed for her date with Finn and glaring at the ceiling.

 

"Rachel?" LeRoy Berry questioned quietly. The petite brunette slowly turned her head to look at her dads.

 

"I'm still getting his voice mail," she said in an irritated whisper.

 

LeRoy and Hiram glanced at each other. They didn't know what to tell their daughter and they were really just as confused about the whole situation as she was. They really liked Finn and for him to just vanish without a trace…well, that just wasn't like him.

 

Hiram opened his mouth to say something when Rachel's phone started ringing.

 

The girl jumped off the bed and ran to pick it up from where it had landed on the floor when she threw it. "Finn?!" she shouted eagerly.

 

"No, not Finn Rachel," came the reply. Rachel's face fell.

 

"Oh, hi Mercedes," she said shortly, the disappointment clearly laced in her voice. She heard her friend sigh on the other end of the line. LeRoy and Hiram remained standing in the doorway, wondering what Mercedes Jones was doing calling Rachel at five o'clock in the morning.

 

"I get what you're going through Rachel," Mercedes replied. Rachel was about to retort when she went on. "Kurt's missing too. The whole family is actually." Rachel was stunned.

 

"Wait, what?" she asked, standing from the floor to sit back down on the bed.

 

Mercedes drew a breath. "Kurt and I were supposed to have a movie night at his house last night," she said carefully. "I went over as planned but the entire house was dark."

 

Rachel's face fell into a look of confusion. "Was the porch light on?" she asked.

 

Mercedes shook her head before remembering Rachel couldn't see her. "No," she replied.

 

Silence fell between them. This was how Rachel knew that something was seriously wrong. The Hudmels would never leave the house or go to bed without leaving at least the porch light on at night. Not to mention, if they'd made other plans, they were always good about notifying anyone they already had plans with in due time. This wasn't like them.

 

"That's not the weirdest part," Mercedes finally said. Rachel bit her lip in nervousness, preparing for whatever Mercedes was about to tell her. "Their cars were still in the driveway." Rachel blanched. Her olive skin ran pale.

 

"So Burt's truck and Kurt's Navigator were still in the driveway?" she asked, surprised her voice was even there, let alone steady.

 

"Yes, and Finn's and Carole's cars in their usual spots on the street," Mercedes confirmed.

 

So this drove it home that something was indeed wrong. Why would the Hudmel family up and leave without taking their cars or telling anyone they were going? Where would they go? Most importantly, who would take them there?

 

"Any sign of a break-in?" Rachel asked. This caused both Hiram and LeRoy to glance at each other in surprise. They could only hear their daughter's end of the conversation so they really had no idea what was going on.

 

"No," Mercedes replied. "The house and yard were in the same condition they always have been. I walked around it even, letting myself into the backyard through the side gate. There wasn't any trace of an unwanted disturbance."

 

Rachel was silent for a moment. "So they just up and left, not taking their cars and not leaving any sign of where they went?" she asked.

 

"That's what it looks like."

 

The brunette tapped her chin in thought for a moment. "Mercedes how fast can you get over here?"

 

"I can be there in ten minutes," the other girl replied.

 

"Good. Best leave now," Rachel said.

 

"I'm on my way."

 

Rachel hung up the phone and turned to look at her dads who were watching from the doorway. "Call the cops. Kurt, Finn, and their parents have disappeared without a trace. Something's wrong. I'm going to get to the bottom of this." She slid off the bed and headed out of the room, leaving Hiram and LeRoy looking very, very worried.

 

* * *

 

"So this is our room," Blaine said brightly, unlocking the door to room 475. As it turned out, the top two floors of the school were designated dorm floors. Kurt and Blaine's room was on the top floor.

 

Kurt struggled to maintain the bored expression as Blaine slipped a key in the lock and opened the door.

 

"After you," the boy said, standing back to allow Kurt to enter the room. Kurt opened his mouth to say thank you but thought better of it. Tristan would not say thank you. Instead, he just gave Blaine a curt nod and walked into the room.

 

Blaine followed him in and shut the door behind them. "So Tristan," he started, startling Kurt who was just standing there looking awkwardly around the room. "Tell me about yourself," he went on.

 

Kurt panicked inwardly. Could he really do that? Could he tell this boy a complete lie? He didn't think he could. He turned around and busied himself with looking for his bedding in his luggage so he could make the bed, trying to figure out an appropriate Tristan response.

 

"I'm not for talking about myself," he said finally, voice flat and bored sounding. He couldn't bear to turn around and see if the remark had hurt Blaine. That would hurt him so he buried himself in looking for his bedding, taking his time on purpose as he actually knew where it was.

 

"Oh come on! Not even a little bit?" Blaine protested.

 

Kurt sighed, finally pulling the bedding out. He chanced turning to look at Blaine. He was smiling and his eyes looked hopeful as he stared back at him. This boy was seriously going to be the death of him.

 

"Fine. What do you want to know?" he said shortly, trying to contain himself.

 

Blaine was a little put off by the boy's abrasiveness or rather apparent disinterest in talking to him. He just wanted to get to know his new roommate.

 

"For starters, where are you from?" he asked. Kurt decided that Tristan was going to be a bit of a smart ass. That shouldn't be too hard as he was normally sarcastic and witty himself. Tristan would just be more crude, rude, and brash. Whereas Kurt would have jokingly stated his response, Tristan wasn't playing around.

 

"America," he said flatly. Blaine raised an eyebrow. Kurt deliberately kept his face blank, trying to show Blaine that he wasn't fucking around here.

 

The other boy sighed and stood up from the bed. He turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Kurt let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

 

Disregarding the task of making the bed, he dropped down onto it and put his face in his hands.

 

"Why me?" he asked. He glanced at the bathroom door, looking for any sign that Blaine was coming out again but there was none. Kurt turned back to his suitcase and pulled out a journal and a pen.

 

Flipping the journal open to the first page, he started writing furiously, getting out all his thoughts so far. Kurt had purchased the journal the day after the attack, thinking that if he was going to be stuck in the body of someone who didn't really exist, he was going to need an outlet in which he could still be Kurt.

 

Some minutes later, Kurt heard the door of the bathroom opening, and he shoved the journal into the bedside table drawer. He didn't want Blaine to see it and get curious about what he was writing in it.

 

The door opened and Blaine stood, leaning in the doorway. The bow tie around his neck was hanging loose and the cardigan was open. Kurt noticed that his eyes were slightly red rimmed. Had he been crying? A wave of guilt washed over him and for a moment Kurt wanted to open himself up to Blaine. To be himself with Tristan being nothing but a new name for Kurt Hummel. But he couldn't. If he did that, it would be way too easy for Kurt to get too close to Blaine, too involved. So he decided that he would loosen up but in the Tristan way.

 

"California," he said. Blaine looked at him for a moment.

 

"Pardon me?" he asked, slightly confused.

 

"I'm from California," he explained, pretending to be a bit irritated.

 

"Oh," Blaine replied. "My brother Cooper lives there." He looked away for a moment, and Kurt got the distinct feeling that there was some unresolved conflict between Blaine and his brother.

 

Wait. He just said Cooper. What had the Headmaster said Blaine's last name was? Anderson? No, it couldn't be! And for a moment, Kurt's act fell and he became himself briefly.

 

"Cooper? Cooper Anderson?! The free credit commercial guy?!" he cried excitedly.

 

Blaine's expression was a mixture of irritation that his new roommate seemed to know who his brother was and triumph that he had gotten the kid to show emotion other than boredom.

 

"That would be him, yes," he replied in a defeated tone.

 

Kurt was about to gush about how much he loved those commercials when he remembered himself and Tristan checked back in.

 

"Oh," he said, throwing up the bored persona again. "Well, that's nice."

 

Blaine was extremely confused. Something weird was going on here. One moment Tristan was bored and uninterested, the next he was all lit up and excited - a side that Blaine decided he liked much better - and then he was bored and uninterested again. This kid had some sort of mood swings.

 

"Wait, wasn't Cooper born in Ohio?" Kurt asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Tristan's boredom be damned.

 

Blaine pale. "Uh…yeah. But we grew up here," he said quickly. He didn't need to tell him that he wasn't born in England. "It's complicated," Blaine said.

 

Kurt stared at him. He knew that there was something Blaine was hiding. Cooper was clearly American and Blaine seemed to be clearly British. Maybe one of them was adopted or something. But if he listened to it, Cooper did have a very slight British lilt to his speech, evidence that he had to have spent part of his life living in England but clearly not all of it. The question was how much? And just what was it that Blaine wasn't telling him?

 

Kurt hardly had a right to pry. After all, he was keeping things from Blaine but that was different. He was lying to Blaine because he had to, because it was for police safety and protection, because you weren't supposed to tell anyone you were in the Witness Protection Program. Blaine was hiding things because he wanted to. There was a difference.

 

"Maybe I'll explain when we know each other better," Blaine suddenly said. So this was something personal he rather just not tell someone he didn't know. Kurt nodded shortly, still a little irritated. After all, Blaine wanted to know stuff about him and he was being forced to tell the boy lie after lie. The least he could do is tell him some truth.

 

Kurt stood up and resumed the process of making the bed. Silence fell between them. Clearly nothing more was going to be said between them.

 

* * *

 

By the time Mercedes had arrived at Rachel's house, the petite girl was frustrated with the cops. They had told LeRoy Berry that until the Hudmel family had been missing for at least twenty-fours there was nothing they could do. She had to think of a way to get the cops to listen up. Little did she know, she was about to get her solution, even if it wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

 

She and Mercedes were currently in the backyard of the Berry residence. It was still the early hours of the morning and the sun was just barely starting its ascent into the sky. Rachel was pacing.

 

"Rachel, if you don't stop, you're going to wear a hole in the ground," Mercedes said from her spot in the grass. She was following her friend with a steady back and forth rhythm.

 

Rachel looked over at her. "I can't. The police won't do squat until Finn and Kurt and Burt and Carole have all been missing for twenty-four hours. We don't know if they all disappeared together or if they disappeared at separate times!" she called.

 

"Maybe they were abducted by aliens," Mercedes joked, trying to make light of the situation. Rachel glared at her.

 

"This is serious Mercedes!" she ground out.

 

"Sorry," the other girl said with a frown. Rachel resumed her pacing and for the time being, they lapsed into silence.

 

That was until they heard a rustle by the backyard fence. Rachel stopped pacing and both girls turned in the direction of the noise and stared wide-eyed. A moment later, an unfamiliar man dropped over the fence and into the backyard.

 

Rachel started backing toward the house. Mercedes scrambled to her feet and joined her.

 

"Hello pretties," the man drawled.

 

"What do you want?" Rachel spat, quickly glancing over her shoulder.

 

The man approached them both and glanced between them for a moment. He decided to address Rachel. He slipped a hand into his coat and she could just make out the indication of him wrapping it around something. Rachel swallowed.

 

"Gee, you wouldn't happen to know a tall pale boy with brown hair, is a fag, and dresses like a girl would you?" he drawled. It was then that he extracted his hand and Rachel noted that he had pulled out a knife. Beside her, Mercedes let out a yelp. The man turned his eyes on her. "Scared of something Beyoncé?" he asked.

 

Little did he know, but the yelp had caught the attention of LeRoy and Hiram Berry and when they saw what was going on in the backyard, they hastened to call the cops.

 

"Well?" the man prodded, looking back at Rachel.

 

"You mean Kurt?" she asked, voice solid. She would not let this man see her fear. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mercedes shake her head frantically. Rachel was aware that she probably shouldn't have named her friend, nor should she have given any indication that she knew who this man was talking about.

 

"Is that his name?" the man drawled, coming closer, knife held neatly by his side. "Because you see, he saw me doing something he shouldn't have. And well, he needs to pay for it." He inched closer to her. "Do you know where he is?" he asked slowly and darkly.

 

Happy for once that she didn't know where Kurt was, Rachel shook her head violently.

 

"No, that's what we're trying to figure out," she said quickly.

 

The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance and the man froze.

 

"Well you figure that out," he said after a moment. "I'll be back for that information." Rachel and Mercedes watched as he hurriedly scrambled back over the fence and out of sight.

 

By the time the cops had arrived, he was long gone.

 

* * *

 

The girl stared down at the cup of coffee she held in her shaking hands. She, Mercedes, and her parents were sitting in the police station in Columbus, Ohio. They had been escorted there as soon as the Lima Police were given the man's description. Mercedes' parents had been called and they were on their way there.

 

"Good morning," a woman said as she entered the room where the four of them had been waiting. Rachel looked up. The woman offered her a genuine smile. Mercedes sat beside Rachel at the table and her dads stood behind them.

 

The woman, opened a file and pulled out a piece of paper. Rachel eyed it warily.

 

"I'm Detective Nelson," she introduced. "Rachel, Mercedes, I'm going to show you a composite drawing and I need you to tell me if it's the man you saw."

 

Rachel's eyes widened slightly. "You already have a composite of him?" she asked.

 

Detective Nelson looked from Rachel to her dads and back again. "I do but that will be explained if he is the man you saw. In which case, this will be a lot more serious than you might think."

 

Rachel and Mercedes glanced at each other before they both slowly nodded their heads.

 

"Show us," Mercedes said, clutching her own coffee cup.

 

Detective Nelson put the composite drawing down on the table and slid it across to the girls. Both of them tensed up the moment they looked down on the man in the drawing. That was more than enough confirmation for the detective.

 

"That's him," Rachel said.

 

"Are you sure?" Detective Nelson asked.

 

Rachel nodded. "Positive. He came at me with a knife. I got a better look than Mercedes did."

 

A man had entered the room with Detective Nelson and she glanced at him.

 

"Rachel, did you notice anything unusual about the knife?" she asked.

 

The brunette furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes, searching her memory. "Now that I think about it, it was stained red as though it had been poorly washed after its last use." She didn't want to think about whatever its last use had been though.

 

"Sounds like the same knife," Detective Nelson said to her partner. She looked back at the girls and sighed. Looks like she was going to have to add them to protection now that the man after Kurt had targeted some of his friends and wanted information from them. "Okay, I understand that your dad called the Lima police to report a disappearance, is that correct?" she asked Rachel.

 

The girl didn't have a clue why she was being asked this but nodded anyway. "Yes, my friend Kurt and his family have vanished without a trace." Suddenly, her eyes widened as realization hit her. "Oh my God, he was looking for Kurt! The man who attacked us was looking for Kurt!"

 

Detective Nelson closed her eyes and nodded her head slightly. "Yes Rachel. Your friend Kurt caught this man having just murdered a woman." Rachel and Mercedes both stared at her. Where was this going? Wait, Kurt had witnessed a murder? "He chased Kurt all the way back to his house, pounded on the door making threats right up until he heard the police sirens and then he ran."

 

Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment. "That's when he ran from us too, when he heard the sirens. But he wanted to know where Kurt was."

 

"I'm going to tell you where Kurt is," Detective Nelson said. "But only because now that you are involved and he knows where you live, we're going to have to send both you and your families there too for your own safety."

 

Rachel and Mercedes looked at each other before Mercedes said very quietly, "The Hudmels are in the Witness Protection Program, aren't they?" Detective Nelson nodded slowly. "That explains why they up and left without telling anyone. They weren't supposed to. We're not supposed to know."

 

Rachel had only fixated on one thing. If Kurt and his family were in the Witness Protection Program, that was where she and Mercedes were about to end up.

 

"So…where are you sending us than?" she asked.

 

"London, England," Detective Nelson replied and Rachel felt the color drain out of her face.


	4. The Mixer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, chapter four guys! Blaine is about to get a little more than he bargained for and Kurt goes off on Rachel. Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

The weekend had been kind of both enjoyable and unbearable for both Kurt and Blaine. For Blaine because he was hardly getting a word out of his new roommate, despite being friendly and helpful. Tristan seemed to remain stoic and bored the entire time. Kurt because he was finding it harder and harder not to be himself with Blaine. He wanted to so badly.

 

But things were about to take a very interesting turn for the boys. It would start with the traditional Sunday night mixer held in Dalton's grand ballroom between the Dalton Academy boys and the Country Crawford Day girls. It wasn't mandatory to attend but Blaine had insisted they go because he wanted Tristan to take part in Dalton's traditions at least once in his school career.

 

That was why Kurt found himself dawning the Dalton uniform for the first time. Attendance wasn't required but uniforms were.

 

He stared in the full length mirror they had in their room, straightening his tie, wondering how the uniform would look on Finn and not altogether caring. It was a bit too preppy for his liking and a lot too preppy for Tristan's. but he sucked it up.

 

"I look ridiculous," he muttered as he heard the bathroom door open and Blaine emerged from it, steam billowing out after him.

 

"I think you look very good," Blaine said. Kurt took a moment to turn around, trying to contain the blush that had flared up over his cheeks. Tristan was not interested in relationships and he certainly wasn't the romantic Kurt was.

 

"I'm not into boys so don't try," he said. Blaine frowned. Kurt cringed, glad he'd turned back to the mirror. That had been so hard for him to say.

 

"That's not what I meant Trist," the other boy replied.

 

Kurt thought the nickname was kind of cute and almost forgot himself to giggle but he managed to hold his tongue. Tristan didn't like that. "Don't call me that," he said.

 

A glance in the mirror told him Blaine was frowning again. Kurt felt horrible. The gorgeous boy was frowning more and more and he shouldn't ever have a frowny face. It just didn't suit him. Kurt liked him much better when he was happy and smiling. But this wasn't about what Kurt wanted. It was about what Tristan needed. And it was about keeping Blaine from getting too close to him. After all, Kurt could be going home again any day now.

 

"Are we allowed to accessorize at least?" Kurt asked, picking up his fedora. Blaine crossed to him and plucked it from his hands. It took all of Kurt's willpower to contain the shudder he felt at the closeness of the other boy. "Give it back Blaine," he said firmly.

 

"Relax," Blaine replied before carefully placing the fedora on top of Kurt's head. "Yes, you can accessorize." Tristan was hoping that the mysteriousness would keep people from talking to him. Kurt was trying to make a fashion statement, send those girls reeling with slight envy.

 

Though that was a little hard to do considering he was wearing a fedora.

 

"You look classy," Blaine said. Kurt turned to look at him. "Circa 1950s. Watch out world, here comes the ever snazzy Tristan West," he went on.

 

That did it. Kurt was flung over the edge with giggles. Forget Tristan's boredom and pushing Blaine away. He could do that in public.

 

"You make it too hard Blaine Anderson," Kurt said when he had recovered. Blaine cocked his head to the side curiously. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "For the way I've been acting. You see, I'm from Los Angeles, California but my dad's job relocates him a lot. I didn't want to get close to anyone here because I don't want it to hurt when I leave them again."

 

Blaine looked at him for a long moment, seeming to understand surprisingly. Kurt was grateful he managed to smoothly use their cover story as a reason for why he'd been so cold and aloof toward Blaine all weekend. The truth was though, Kurt didn't think he could keep himself from being close to Blaine if he kept trying.

 

"I get it. You don't like leaving your friends behind, having to start over. I know what that feels like," Blaine said quietly.

 

Kurt looked at him curiously. "You do?" he asked. Blaine nodded.

 

"I do. I transferred to Dalton after something very bad happened to me at my old school but that's a story for a night when we're not meant to have a good time."

 

Kurt studied him for a moment, curious to know more but Blaine was right. "I'll make you a deal," Kurt said. "I'll be more friendly toward you when we're alone but for everyone else…" he trailed off biting his lip.

 

Blaine licked his own lips. Tristan looked so hot biting his lip like that. "Done. I'll take it." He started to head for the door before turning back to face him. "You know, if you leave, you can have my phone number so we can stay in contact," he noted.

 

Kurt visibly paled, which was saying something because he was so naturally pale to begin with. He didn't have a phone. They had been strictly advised to leave their phones back in Ohio so no one they knew could get a hold of them. This was a safety precaution should one of Kurt's friends be found by the man who was after him. He could use it to his advantage by having them call Kurt and then make a threat to him over the phone.

 

"I don't have a phone actually. My parents said there was no point in bringing the one I had because phone number codes are so different here than in America. I should be getting a new one though," he said. It wasn't entirely a lie. Kurt was supposed to get a new phone and it was true that an American coded phone would not fair well in England but the actual reason why he didn't have one wasn't really the truth. The more lies he told Blaine, the more he hated himself for it but he didn't have a choice.

 

"Oh, okay. We'll figure that out when you get one," Blaine replied with an easy smile. "Come on, we'll be late."

 

Kurt nodded, put on his Tristan face, and followed Blaine out the door.

 

* * *

 

"I assure you Amanda, you'll like Dalton boys much better than those silly boys in America," a girl with long blonde curls was saying to Rachel. Erica Duvei was originally from France and she was boarding at Country Crawford Day. She was Rachel's roommate.

 

The two of them had just climbed out of one of the school's many limos that were chauffeuring the girls to Dalton Academy and Rachel was in just as much awe at the school she now knew Kurt and Finn were attending as she had been at Country Crawford Day.

 

Behind them, Mercedes and her roommate Becca were climbing out of the limo, followed by some other girls. Though Rachel and Mercedes had arrived in the wee hours of Sunday morning, the girls had been very welcoming right from the start.

 

"I don't know, I have a boyfriend back in Montana," she replied.

 

"How's he coping with the fact that your parents had to move here indefinitely for business?" Erica asked with a knowing look.

 

Rachel sighed. The girl had a point. But she also didn't know that Rachel's real boyfriend was right inside the doors they were about to enter. The only issue was that Rachel was going to have to pretend she didn't know him. That wouldn't be hard on her part but she was worried about him. Any signs that Kurt, Rachel, Finn, and Mercedes knew each other could send up red flags. So Mercedes and Rachel had pretended that they had met at the airport in London and decided to share a car on the journey to Country Crawford Day, even though they and their parents had been on the same flight and were meant to be in the same car anyway.

 

So Rachel was now Amanda Elise Helms, who was originally from Montana and whose dads traveled for business all the time. So she was meant to be used to relocating often. Rachel could play that easily.

 

Mercedes was Lavender Shawna Wicket, originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Her parents were always struggling financially and they had just lost the family's house. They'd been offered a place to stay by her mother's cousin who lived in London. The cop who picked them up was playing the cousin who was supposed to be British. Mercedes' family was staying with her while they were here.

 

"This way ladies," Becca said. "We can't wait to introduce you to the Warblers."

 

"The Warblers?" Mercedes asked, looking on curiously.

 

"Oh yes," Erica replied. "They're Dalton's show choir and they are simply divine! Their lead singer Blaine is so dreamy!"

 

Becca sighed and shook her head. "But like with every dreamy guy, Blaine plays for the other team."

 

Rachel and Mercedes exchanged a quick wide-eyed glance. "You mean he's gay?" Rachel asked, trying not to sound hopeful. If he was, maybe during the combined school functions she could play matchmaker for him and Kurt. Though she had no idea what kind of character Kurt had decided his new identity would be.

 

"Precisely," Erica said as the two experienced Crawford girls lead to the two new ones to Dalton's grand ballroom.

 

* * *

 

This mixer wasn't half bad in Kurt's opinion but Tristan was undeniably bored. Finn had spent the majority of the time they had been in the room, which was approximately all of ten minutes,  checking out the refreshment table. Kurt resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

 

He stood against the wall by the door as Blaine mingled. Blaine had tried to get him to loosen up a bit but Kurt as Tristan had told him this wasn't his kind of thing and said not to be a hermit like him and go have fun. Since it was clear to Kurt that Blaine was a social butterfly.

 

Several girls had come up to him anyway, giggling and admiring his fedora. Kurt was pleased he had still made his fashion statement. Tristan was irritated the man of mystery persona seemed to be luring people to him rather than pushing them away.

 

And then four new girls entered the room and Kurt's heart stopped. No, it couldn't be. It wasn't possible. The boy blinked his eyes several times and punched himself, hissing under his breath when it stung.

 

Keeping his head down, Kurt hurried away to the refreshment table before the four girls could spot him by the door. He grabbed Finn by the blazer sleeve and pulled him out of the room through a second set of doors, the pair he and Blaine had entered through. It was the most direct path to the dormitories.

 

"Dude, that was rude! I was trying to eat!" Finn said the moment they were in the hallway.

 

Kurt looked around before spotting a janitor's closet and yanking Finn inside. He wasn't taking any chances.

 

"You're always trying to eat Finn! And don't call me dude! Anyway that's not the point. We have an emergency."

 

Finn knew something was seriously up when Kurt became Kurt and called him by his real name. He gave him a concerned look.

 

"What's up Kurt? What happened? Did that dapper boy harass you?"

 

Kurt gave him an incredulous look and sighed heavily.

 

"No Finn," he said, shutting his eyes. "This is going to sound crazy but I was standing by the main door and four of those Crawford girls entered."

 

Finn chose to interrupt. "Yeah so?" He gasped as a thought hit him. "Oh my God! Are you attracted to one of them? Because to you that would be an emergency."

 

Kurt resisted the urge to slap him. He tried to maintain his composure. "Oh my God Finn, no." He took a breath, shutting his eyes for a moment. "Two of them were Rachel and Mercedes."

 

Finn just stared at him. "Are you sure?" he asked quietly, mouth agape.

 

"Positive," Kurt replied.

 

Finn shook his head frantically. "Dude, that's not possible."

 

Kurt ignored the term this time, knowing no matter how many times he told him not to call him that, Finn would do it anyway. "I didn't think so either. But it's them."

 

"So what do we do?" Finn asked after several long moments.

 

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Tristan? Is that you in there?" How the hell did Blaine find him?

 

"Yeah sorry! Be right out! Just having a private conversation with my brother and this was all I could find on short notice," he replied. Perhaps the most words Tristan had ever said in one, except for the apology back in their room. He turned back to Finn. "The only thing we can do. Pretend we don't know them. I'll see if I can't find out what they're doing here. But in the meantime, if anyone finds out we know them, that could raise questions."

 

Finn was quiet for a moment. "How are you going to do that?" he asked finally.

 

Kurt cringed. "The only way I know how. On the pretense of getting alone time with a girl. I'm sorry Finn but I'm going to have to do this with Rachel. She's the one most likely to give me answers."

 

Finn nodded. "I understand dude. I know you're not really going to get some from her."

 

Kurt wrinkled his nose at the idea of getting anything from a girl. Even if he had made out with Brittany Pierce the year before, he had no intentions of venturing down that road any further.

 

He gave Finn a curt nod before straightening his blazer and stepping out into the hallway to find Blaine standing across the hall waiting for him. Finn followed him out, looking sheepish.

 

"Everything all right?" Blaine asked in a concerned manner.

 

"Fine," Kurt replied shortly, smoothing down his blazer and straightening his fedora.

 

Just then, Wes stepped out of the ballroom. "There you are Blaine. Come on, Becca and Erica want to introduce their two American roommates." He caught sight of Kurt and Finn. "Bring them along. It would be good for them to have some Americans to relate to."

 

Kurt caught Finn's eye as the two of them and Blaine followed Wes back into the ballroom.

 

Wes lead the three of them to where David, Thad, and the four girls Kurt had seen entering the ballroom moments earlier were all standing. Kurt plastered the bored expression on his face and when Finn noticed that it was indeed Rachel and Mercedes, he looked momentarily dumbfounded.

 

It was time to play game while at the same time, conveying to Rachel that they needed to talk privately and it needed to be now. Kurt could do that. He was going to give the best damn performance that he should get a Tony for it someday.

 

"There you are Blaine!" The redhead standing with Rachel, Mercedes, and a blonde girl Kurt didn't know either said when the four of them had reached the group.

 

"Hello Becca, have a good weekend?" Blaine replied politely.

 

"It was superb, thank you," she said. Kurt was starting to get annoyed with all the proper talk. "Anyway, I'd like you to meet Lavender. She just arrived this morning from America."

 

Blaine stuck out his hand with a smile and Mercedes took it. Always the gentleman, he kissed her hand. Mercedes giggled and then looked up, noticing Kurt for the first time. She opened her mouth to say something but Kurt shook his head sharply and she shut it again.

 

"A pleasure to meet you Lavender," Blaine said. He stood back up and placed his hand on the small of Kurt's back. Again, Kurt had to struggle to resist the shudder that wanted to crawl up his spine. "This lovely gentleman here is Tristan West. He just arrived from America yesterday. He and his brother Aidan," he added, glancing over at Finn.

 

Becca and Erica both giggled. "Such a charming fedora," Erica said.

 

"So mysterious," Becca added. Finn looked a little put off that Kurt was garnering the attention of the girls. He wanted to blurt out that he was gay but he had no idea if Kurt was out and proud as Tristan or not. He didn't think so given what Kurt had said in closet. He was thinking that Tristan might be straight. Oh this would get interesting.

 

"Charmed," Kurt said, the bored expression on his face. Time to turn up the acting. He turned to Rachel as though only just noticing her. "And who is this?" he said with clear seductive interest.

 

Rachel looked taken aback. She had no idea what the hell Kurt was doing but figured she ought to play along, quickly throwing Finn an apologetic look.

 

"I'm Amanda, Amanda Helms," Rachel said easily. She rolled on the flirting. If Kurt wasn't such a good actor, he would have cringed. He also had to admit that Rachel looked right at home in the school girl uniform she was required to wear at Crawford.

 

"Pleasure to meet you, Manda," Kurt said, shortening the name and taking Rachel's hand to kiss it. And then Kurt did something he had never done to anyone before. He locked bedroom eyes on Rachel even though the snake in his stomach was making him want to vomit.

 

"Someone is taken with you Amanda," Erica giggled.

 

"You can use the Warblers practice hall," Wes suggested. "No one will be in there. Come along, I'll show you the way." He took both Kurt and Rachel by the arm and started pulling them out of the room.

 

Finn and Mercedes both looked flabbergasted and Blaine looked jealous and heartbroken. He decided he was going to do something he had never done before.

 

"Do you Brits really move that fast?" Finn asked.

 

Erica looked at him. "Oh honey, we know what we want and we go for it. No harm in teaching your brother and Amanda a thing or two about getting what you want."

 

Finn just barely managed to keep himself from snorting. He and Mercedes shared a knowing smile.

 

"I'll be back," Blaine spoke up, slipping away from the group. "I am just going upstairs to touch up my hair." It was a smooth lie, but yet one that was believable because it was something he was known to do anyway.

 

Blaine slipped out of the ballroom and once he was out of sight, he took a different path around to the Warblers practice hall so Wes wouldn't see him on his way back.

 

Carefully, Blaine inched his way closer to the door, waiting for Wes to lock it and walk off. He wanted to know just how good a lover Tristan would be. Or rather barge in before it got too far. He wanted Tristan.

 

Clutching the key he had to the practice hall, which was given to him as lead singer, he crept up to the doors as soon as Wes disappeared again and sat down to wait for the perfect opportunity.

 

* * *

 

Inside the room Kurt and Rachel waited for several moments to make sure Wes had really walked off before Kurt pulled the fedora from his head and tossed it on one of the couches.

 

"You want to tell me what you're doing here Rachel?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

 

Rachel looked at him. "Since when did you wear a fedora Kurt?" she asked, avoiding the question.

 

"I don't wear fedoras, Tristan does. Don't avoid the question Rachel Berry."

 

She wrinkled her nose and looked at him. "I could ask you the same thing Kurt Elizabeth Hummel." She narrowed her eyes.

 

"Oh, we're going to play the full name game now are we? Okay, have it your way Rachel Barbra Berry!" Kurt spat.

 

For a moment they just stood there glaring at each other, both breathing heavily. Rachel was the first to back down, drawing a breath and calming herself. Arguing wasn't going to get them anywhere.

 

"Why didn't you tell us you were attacked by a man after witnessing a murder?" she asked carefully.

 

Kurt looked at her for a long moment. He didn't tell her because he wasn't supposed to. "How do you know about that?" he asked.

 

Rachel sighed. "Because the same man broke into my backyard yesterday morning when Mercedes and I were trying to figure out why you and your family had disappeared without a trace."

 

Kurt's eyes went wide. "He what? Curse Lima! Stupid fucking town!" he growled. Rachel was taken aback.

 

"Kurt Hummel, swearing? I never thought I'd see the day." Kurt threw her one of his famous bitch glares. "But yeah. He threatened me with a stained knife, wanted information on you. I guess my dads heard the commotion because they called the cops. He ran when he heard the sirens but threatened to be back for the information. The cops sent us to Columbus and when it was confirmed it was the same man that attacked you, they decided they didn't want to take any chances."

 

Kurt looked at her for a moment. "So they put you and Mercedes in the Witness Protection Program too. But why send you here with us?" he asked, a little confused.

 

"I don't know Kurt," Rachel answered honestly.

 

Outside the door, Blaine sat staring straight ahead. He was aware that he had just overheard a conversation he wasn't supposed to. Witness Protection Program? An attacker was after Tristan? Or Kurt? Or whatever his name was? Blaine cursed himself for not trusting the situation. He understood so much about his new roommate now. He knew he should be mad, but it wasn't like Tristan was lying to him on his own accord. He was lying to him because he was told to.

 

Blaine decided that he needed to keep this knowledge to himself for a few reasons. One, if it got out that he knew, it could put Tristan and his friends in jeopardy, even if he had no connection to the attacker. Two, if it got out that he knew, it could mean never seeing Tristan again and that was something Blaine didn't want. Authentic or not, Blaine knew he was taken with the boy. And whenever Tristan was finally allowed to be who he was for him, he hoped he would be his.

 

And one last reason, he didn't want to be used as bait. Suddenly he realized another reason Tristan might not want to get close to him.

 

Wait, where the hell was Lima?


	5. Ready to Confess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no actual confession in this chapter. It's just the build up. And I'm going to warn you, Sebastian makes an entrance in a few chapters. I don't like him either but he'll play an important role later in the story. But he's not in this chapter or the next one. Chapter seven I believe is when he's introduced. You'll see. Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

 

After what he had learned about Tristan, or Kurt or whoever he was, Blaine had a better understanding of why he acted the way he did. But he could never tell what was an act and what was genuine. Kurt, it seemed, was a very good actor. Blaine never once complained though and he kept his mouth shut about what he knew.

 

"Do you sing?" Blaine asked Tristan a few days later when both of them were in their room studying. Kurt looked up from his French book and raised an eyebrow.

 

"Pardon me?" he drawled. Kurt had stayed true to his word about being a little more relaxed when the two of them were alone but Tristan's persona was becoming so familiar to him now that it was easy for him to slip into it without realizing it.

 

"Do you sing?" Blaine repeated, shutting his Literature text and sitting up on his bed.

 

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut tight. God how he missed singing and he knew about the Dalton Academy Warblers. He wanted to join them so very badly but he couldn't. It would be out of character for Tristan.

 

"No, sorry," he finally said, returning his gaze to his homework.

 

Blaine frowned. He had a feeling there was something clenching in the other boy's gut but he couldn't be sure. In his mind, watching Tristan, he was starting to learn what was Tristan and what was Kurt by how genuine the boy's reactions were. It was becoming very clear that Kurt was trying to be a completely different person entirely. Blaine didn't get it. It wasn't like any of the people at this school had known who he was before he came here.

 

The curly-haired boy crossed his legs and inclined his head to the side. "Do you play any instruments?"

 

"Pi—no, no instruments." Kurt had started to give him a Kurt answer and Blaine didn't miss it but he didn't call him out, either.

 

Switching now so that he had pulled his knees up to his chest, Blaine decided he needed another tactic. "What do you do than?"

 

Kurt finally looked up from the textbook again, locking his eyes on Blaine's. "I'm actually a rather boring person Blaine," he replied. And Kurt became aware of how true that was. Tristan was rather boring. "I did play football last year but that's about it." That wasn't a lie and it was something that Kurt thought Tristan might have done.

 

"Really?" Blaine asked, intrigued. "What position?"

 

"Kicker," Kurt responded easily. "Smallest guy on the field right?" he asked with the glimmer of a smile.

 

"I wouldn't know," Blaine replied, giving his head a shake. "I'm not really familiar with American football aside from the fact that it's similar to rugby."

 

Kurt shut the textbook and sat up on his bed, well aware that he likely wasn't going to get any more studying done.

 

"It's really not all that interesting," he said without thinking, clapping a hand to his mouth. "I mean it's absolutely fascinating," he tried covering but knew it was a shameful attempt. He had unintentionally given Blaine his first real look at Kurt Hummel, the boy behind Tristan West.

 

Blaine stared at him for a long moment. "If you don't find it fascinating or interesting, why did you play?" he asked, not really calling him out on his mishap.

 

"Because my brother said they needed a new kicker and I could actually kick a field goal," he replied. That wasn't a lie either because he really could kick a field goal. "Aidan was the quarterback," he added.

 

"Quarterback?" Blaine questioned.

 

"It's kind of like the head honcho on the football team. He leads off all the plays," Kurt tried to explain. "Aidan can explain it better than I can." He gave his head a shake. "Anyway, we had a sucky team last year and the only game we won was because of my kicking skills." Kurt wasn't going to lie. Though he really didn't like football, he still took pleasure in the fact that he had been the reason they'd won that game.

 

"Is Aidan not the best leader than?" Blaine asked, wondering briefly what Aidan's real name was if they were in the Witness Protection Program.

 

Kurt looked at him for a moment. "No. The issue last year was that the team had a coach who really didn't give a hoot about football."

 

Blaine looked somewhat confused. "Than why was he coaching it?" he asked.

 

Kurt couldn't stop the genuine Kurt trademark closed-mouth smile from flickering to his face. He had to clap a hand to his mouth to keep from breaking out in giggles about the whole thing.

 

"He was head over heels in love with the guidance counselor." It was interesting how Kurt was able to actually give real details of his life while still keeping his cover. It wasn't like Blaine knew where he really came from or anything.

 

"But that ended badly, mostly because the guidance counselor was in love with the Spanish teacher who up until mid-last year was married."

 

Blaine's eyes got comically wide. It was clear to Kurt that he had never heard of such shenanigans before in his life and well, this was surprising news to him. He had no idea American schools weren't as put together and proper as British schools were.

 

"Why the divorce?" he asked, figuring that the Spanish teacher was no longer married given what the other boy had said.

 

Kurt rolled his eyes. "His wife was a nut job. She was pretending to be pregnant because she thought if they didn't have a baby, she would lose him," he replied. Blaine's eyes widened even more if possible. "I think I heard something about her intending to adopt a pregnant cheerleader's baby and passing it off as their own."

 

Kurt knew that element was correct. But he didn't need to go into details about the whole pregnant Quinn Fabray debacle, especially when since Tristan wouldn't have cared, he likely wouldn't have been entirely informed either. Kurt had already divulged way too much as it was when he thought about it but the bigger stuff was scandalous enough that the whole school knew.

 

"Your high school back in California sounds like drama central," Blaine pointed out.

 

Kurt sighed and gave his head a shake. "Well, it's Los Angeles. Everything is dramatic with Hollywood right around the corner."

 

It took everything he had not to scoff because while that was true, McKinley was in Lima, Ohio, not in Los Angeles, California. Who would have thought a small conservative Ohio town could be just as dramatic as the Hollywood scene?

 

But for now, Kurt was done talking. To emphasize this fact, he pulled his French textbook into his lap and dropped his eyes to it, flicking it open to resume his studying.

 

Blaine took it as a sure sign that the conversation was over.

 

* * *

 

After that, Blaine had little success getting the other boy to open up again. He seemed terrified that he may have said too much. He neglected to show at the following Sunday's inter school mixer, claiming he had a stomach bug when really, he didn't want to have to put on a seductive show with Rachel.

 

After their argument in the Warblers practice hall, Kurt and Rachel realized that their new friends probably expected a hookup between them. They had done what they could to make their clothes look fussed and their hair askew, although inside Kurt was dying at the thought of messing up his perfectly styled hair. They agreed if anyone asked about the non-presence of hickeys, they would just say they placed them where clothes could cover them up. Luckily no one questioned that. Kurt was getting enough heat from Finn just with his appearance even though Finn should know he would never actually do that with Rachel.

 

Kurt's first major screw up came about a week after the conversation about the dramatics of McKinley. There was a piano in the student commons and the teachers were having a staff day so while they were still required to wear their uniforms, they had no classes that day. Kurt had taken the advantage to venture into the student commons to play the piano.

 

Well, actually, students had a choice. They were allowed to spend the day out about London if they so wished but if they stayed behind, they had to wear their uniforms.

 

Blaine had told him that morning that the Warblers were going to go on a tour of Buckingham Palace and that Kurt and his brother were welcome to come. Finn had agreed but Kurt had declined because he really needed time to himself. He told Blaine that they could go some other time because it had been immensely hard to pass up on a tour of Buckingham Palace.

 

So with the comforting notion that all people that mattered were out of the school for the day, Kurt decided to spend some quality time doing what he loved. Music.

 

Kurt entered the student commons, checking the room for signs of anyone else and was relieved to find it empty. He headed straight for the piano and took a seat.

 

Flexing his fingers, Kurt did a warmup the same way he'd tested his vocal range the year before in preparation for his Defying Gravity diva-off with Rachel. He still hadn't told her that she won because he had thrown the competition and lost on purpose. Let her have her glory. It was what she fed off of anyway.

 

Kurt paused for a moment, wondering about whether Rachel had joined the show choir for Crawford. Even pretending to be someone else, he doubted she would be able to resist the call of being in show choir or Glee Club. Unless of course Crawford didn't have one, in which case, Kurt wouldn't put it past Rachel to start one. But Dalton had one so why wouldn't Crawford?

 

One of the reasons Kurt was so sure about what Rachel might be doing at that school was because though he hated to admit it, the two of them were a lot alike. The one major difference between them was that Kurt actually cared about other people's feelings. That was why he'd thrown the diva-off in the first place. He couldn't bear the thought of what kind of torment would befall his dad for his gay son singing a song traditionally sung by a female.

 

So yes, Kurt was itching to join the Warblers but he had just enough restraint to keep from doing so. He had attempted to talk Finn into it though. That hadn't gone over as well as he had planned.

 

Kurt returned to his scale warmup, singing each increasingly higher note with beautiful clarity and effortless ease. He liked to think he had a better vocal range than Rachel, though he would never say as much aloud.

 

"Oooooo ooooo," he hummed, increased the note to the next key between each held sound.

 

He continued through the scale of keys until he was satisfied with the final note, which ended on a high A, a note even higher than the high F in Defying Gravity, which Kurt still hit flawlessly.

 

Flexing his fingers, Kurt placed them to the keys and began the very first song he could think of.

 

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night_

_Take these broken wings and learn to fly_

_All your life_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise_

 

Outside in the hallway, unknown to Kurt, Blaine was hurrying along to the dorms. He'd forgotten his camera and was on his way back to get it when he passed by the student commons and came to a halt.

 

Blaine furrowed his brow in confusion. Someone was playing the piano and singing and that someone was extremely good at it. The Warblers could use a voice and talent like that.

 

Curiosity getting the better of him, Blaine texted Wes and told him something came up. He said for them to go ahead without him and he'd join them another time.

 

Wes of course was just a bit agitated but reluctantly agreed to Blaine's sudden change of mind.

 

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Blaine slowly pulled open the door to the student commons and peeked inside. He was surprised by what he saw.

 

Tristan was seated at the piano, fingers flying delicately over the keys, eyes shut and voice ringing out the notes to the Beatles' "Blackbird".

 

Blaine stood there listening, mesmerized. Why had Tristan said that he didn't sing? Or that he didn't play any instruments? Blaine remembered that he had started to answer that question but quickly reverted to saying no. There was a reason why, he was sure and after a moment, he thought he knew what it was.

 

Kurt was the musical one. Tristan was not. It made so much sense. After learning the truth about his roommate, Blaine began to realize that the boy was trying to make Tristan just about everything that was opposite from himself. Maybe if he looked at the situation that way from now on, Blaine might just learn who Kurt was. Whatever answer Tristan gave him would likely be opposite of the truth. The question was why?

 

Carefully, Blaine slipped into the room and shut the door behind him. Thankfully, his roommate hadn't noticed his presence. He remained quiet until the boy reached the end of the song.

 

Gently, Blaine applauded when the last note had rung out completely, causing Kurt to startle and he turned his head sharply in surprise.

 

"Bl-Blaine?" he questioned, eyebrows rising so high in fear that they disappeared right into his hairline. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Buckingham Palace with your friends and my brother."

 

Clearly, he was quite shaken and fearful. Blaine knew he had lied to him now. What was going to happen to him? To them?

 

"I was but I forgot my camera and then I heard you and well, here I am," Blaine replied, carefully walking closer. "Why did you tell me you don't sing? Or play an instrument?"

 

Kurt shut his eyes and sighed heavily. This was not the way he wanted things to happen. But in this moment, he thought it was time to screw cover stories. He couldn't bear the thought of lying to Blaine anymore. Besides, it might be helpful to have an insider at Dalton, just in case the attacker managed to get wind of Kurt's location. He could use the help.

 

"I have a lot I need to tell you," he said finally, making his decision. "But you have to swear to me you won't tell a single soul."

 

Blaine looked at him for a long moment and sighed. It was probably time he came clean. "If this is about the Witness Protection thing, I already know."

 

Kurt stared at him in shock for the longest moment and Blaine was sure he saw whatever little color Kurt had left drain right out of his face.

 

"Let's go up to the room. We have a lot to discuss and we probably shouldn't do it here," Blaine said.

 

All Kurt could manage was a nod. He slid from the piano bench and quietly followed Blaine out of the room. This had just gotten even more complicated.


	6. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is Kurt's confession. Blaine wants to confess something too, the fact that he wasn't born in England. But Kurt won't let him. Of course we get a little insight into a much larger secret Blaine has been keeping from everyone. Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

Blaine unlocked the door to the room for the two of them and stood back to allow Kurt to enter first. The pale boy gave him a grateful smile before entering the room and sitting on his bed, curling himself up into a ball. Blaine followed him in and shut the door behind him, locking it.

 

The curly-haired boy stayed by the door for a moment, just looking at Kurt. He looked positively terrified, like this was going to get out and then he and his family would have to leave. And by connection, the two girls whose names Blaine didn't know either. Kurt was arguing with one of them, which was a clear indicator the two American girls were involved somehow.

 

After a few beats of silence, Blaine sat down on his bed and waited. He wanted to be respectful to Kurt. Give the situation time to play out naturally on its own. He wasn't going to push him.

 

"How did you know?" Kurt asked quietly, a few moments later.

 

Blaine sighed and ran a hand over his face. He bit his lip. "I overheard the argument you and that brunette American girl had the night of the first mixer," he said truthfully.

 

Kurt sat up, eyes wide as saucers for a moment before they narrowed slightly and Blaine could see the flash of anger that flickered across his face.

 

"You were eavesdropping?" he asked in a lower tone than was normal for his voice. Blaine swallowed audibly and threw his hands up in defense.

 

"Not on purpose," he said quickly. He bit his lip again and it took Kurt all of his strength to keep his cool. The pale boy folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow but Blaine didn't elaborate.

 

"I'm waiting," Kurt prompted him a moment later, impatience lacing his voice.

 

Blaine sighed. "I was jealous." Kurt's face went from angry to confused.

 

"Jealous? Of what?"

 

Blaine looked at him for a long moment. "Of that girl you were with," he admitted.

 

"Rachel?" Kurt asked, slipping up the name. He only realized it a second too late but figured the whole truth was about to come out anyway so what did it matter?

 

"Is that her real name?" Blaine asked.

 

Kurt nodded. "Yes," he confirmed.

 

"Yes, I was jealous of Rachel," Blaine said.

 

Kurt just looked at him for several moments before he started laughing so hard he nearly fell off the bed. Blaine blushed, not having any idea what was going on.

 

"Oh man," Kurt said as he finally started calming down. "I don't bat for that team and even if I did, Rachel would be the last girl I would do it with," he said.

 

Blaine's eyes got wide, very wide. "You're gay?" he asked in astonishment before realizing how rude that was and clapping a hand to his mouth.

 

Kurt waved it off and nodded his head. "Gay as the Fourth of July," he said with a grin. Blaine looked momentarily confused and Kurt remembered he probably didn't get that expression. "American Independence Day," he explained.

 

"Oh. But than why did you say you didn't like boys and why were you trying to seduce her?" he asked, genuinely wanting to understand what was going on.

 

The pale boy sighed and ran a hand through his perfectly coifed hair. This was really going to be a lot to explain. Well, not this part exactly. And if Blaine had overheard that conversation he knew quite a bit about Kurt's situation.

 

"I may like boys, but Tristan is perfectly fine with girls. As for attempting to seduce Rachel," and here he cringed at the thought of anything to do with seducing that girl. "I needed to get her out so I could privately talk to her."

 

"So you could find out what she was doing here," Blaine finished for him. Kurt nodded.

 

"I don't think I need to tell you the answer to that." Blaine shook his head. "Right, so you also know the gist of what I'm doing here so I don't have to explain that."

 

Blaine thought for a moment. "But there is stuff you can tell me still," he said.

 

"What do you want to know?" Kurt asked.

 

"Before I ask anything I want to give you my word that I won't tell anybody any of this," Blaine replied.

 

"I trust you," Kurt said quietly.

 

Blaine looked at him for a moment, trying to keep the tears from starting to fall. It was nice to know that this boy who had traveled half-way around the world just for his own safety, trusted Blaine with information he wasn't supposed to be giving out at all.

 

"First, who are you? I mean really?"

 

Kurt chuckled lightly and slid off his bed. He came and joined Blaine, sticking out his hand for him. "Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel, sixteen year old high school sophomore from Lima, Ohio, a small conservative town that frowns on homosexuality," he said.

 

This did not really sit well with Blaine. He got the sense that Kurt wasn't treated very well back home. But at least now he knew where Lima was. Ohio.

 

"I've never even been to California before," Kurt admitted. Blaine gently squeezed his hand, which he had taken for a shake.

 

"It's okay Kurt," he said. Kurt felt his heart beat faster. Blaine had just called him by his real name for the first time and it felt absolutely amazing. He had so much admiration for this boy. Kurt smiled ever so slightly.

 

"Next?" he asked gently, willing Blaine not to let go of his hand.

 

"Aidan?" Blaine asked.

 

Kurt didn't need clarification to know what he meant by that. "His name is Finn and he's actually my stepbrother. His mom married my dad just before the attack."

 

Blaine was quiet for a moment. "So if the attack had happened a little sooner, he wouldn't be here?"

 

Kurt shook his head. "No, he probably wouldn't," he confirmed.

 

The two of them lapsed into silence. Blaine trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. It was kind of confusing but at least it made everything make more sense. He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment.

 

"And the other American girl?" he asked.

 

"My best friend Mercedes. She was with Rachel when the attacker broke into her backyard."

 

Blaine nodded. "Anything else you want to tell me now?" he asked, looking quietly at Kurt and not letting go of his hand.

 

"Finn is Rachel's boyfriend," Kurt deadpanned. Blaine was taken aback by that comment. He hadn't been expecting that. "If you knew Rachel, it might be easier to understand her motives," Kurt added. Blaine just looked at him for a second before nodding carefully.

 

"I think that's enough of that for one day. Your secret is safe with me Kurt. I want to protect you." His last sentence was spoken so quietly that Kurt almost didn't hear it. He felt his heart beat faster still and he offered the British boy a shy smile. "While we're being honest," Blaine continued. "I want to tell you something none of my other friends know."

 

Kurt felt slightly overwhelmed. He had only known Blaine for about two weeks and now he was opening up to him more than to his friends who he had known a lot longer? And after Kurt had been straight up lying to him all this time? This was really a bit of a surprise and he squeezed Blaine's hand, knowing what he was going to have to do.

 

"Blaine, I don't want you to feel obligated to tell me anything just because of all I've pretty much just told you," he said. Blaine was quiet for several moments so Kurt went on. "I'm flattered that you trust me enough to tell me after two weeks of knowing me but the fact is, you know Tristan, not Kurt. You know the lie I've been living ever since I got here. As much as I can promise to not tell anyone, I want you to keep whatever you were going to say to yourself for now. Get to know me first," he said.

 

Blaine brought his other hand to wrap around the two of theirs and offered Kurt the kindest smile. "You are genuine Kurt Hummel. I want to tell you but if you want me to know you first, than I will respect that because you aren't pushing me for the information," he said.

 

Kurt wanted so badly to just lean in and capture this wonderful boy's lips. God how he was so easy to fall for. Even when Kurt wasn't being Kurt. His eyes flickered momentarily to the other boy's lips before jumping back up and locking on the gorgeous honey hazel that were staring back at him.

 

"Okay," he whispered finally.

 

"Promise me something though?" Blaine asked.

 

"Anything," Kurt said, voice still a whisper.

 

Blaine felt his own breath hitch and he momentarily wondered if the whispering sounded anything like Kurt's bedroom voice. He blushed as the thought made him stir in his pants. He swallowed and shut his eyes for a moment, attempting to regain his composure.

 

"Promise me that when we're alone, you'll be you, and not Tristan," he said finally.

 

Kurt raised Blaine's hand subconsciously and rubbed his cheek against it and Blaine tried to commit to memory the softness of the other boy's skin. He wanted to feel more of it. What did his stomach feel like? His back? His arms? His legs? His—oh no he wasn't going to go there now. Blaine bit his lip, silently cursing his need as a teenage boy.

 

"I promise," Kurt said softly, pulling Blaine from fantasies. Blaine stared at Kurt, wanting so bad to take his lips as his own, not knowing that Kurt wanted the same thing and fighting with himself to restrain the urge because he didn't know this boy. He couldn't just kiss him. But oh how he wanted to.

 

Now that Blaine knew Kurt was gay, things were about to get a lot more complicated. Hopefully he could keep himself in check.

 

* * *

 

Blaine watched Kurt sleeping later on that night. The boy was so incredibly beautiful and to think about all he had been through was just so…heart wrenching. The curly-haired boy had no doubts that Kurt had gone through some particularly difficult times at school back in Ohio, given what he said about his hometown but Kurt hadn't elaborated on that injustice yet.

 

A vibrating noise caused Blaine to jump and the Brit snatched his cell phone from his bedside table. Placing it to his ear, he got up and hastily went into the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it.

 

"Anderson," he answered in a loud whisper, eyes on the bathroom door as though burning a hole into it and still watching Kurt sleep.

 

"Sorry to call you so incredibly late Blaine," came the voice from the other end of the line.

 

Blaine chuckled lightly. "Don't worry about it Brenda," he said. "Really, when else are you going to be able to call without me risking him getting suspicious?"

 

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "How is he doing?" Brenda asked. "And you don't have to be professional with me right now Blaine."

 

"Sorry Aunt Brenda," Blaine replied. "He's doing fine. Broke to me sooner than I thought he would." He could practically hear his aunt's nod on the other end if the line.

 

"Good. Keep an eye on him. With his friends Rachel and Mercedes now under WPP too, I wouldn't put it pass the attacker to do everything he can to find out their location," Brenda replied.

 

Blaine sighed, running a hand through his curls, which were left loose while he slept at night as he often showered before bed to wash the gel out of his hair.

 

"I'll be ready if he shows up here," he replied.

 

"Good. Kurt needs to be home and safe. The members of his Glee Club have been calling one after the other for the past two weeks, worried about the sudden disappearances of their four friends. We can only keep making up excuses for so long."

 

Blaine hadn't even thought about the state of Kurt's friends back in Ohio. He bit his lip, suddenly feeling guilty that he got to spend time with Kurt and his friends didn't know if he was even okay, let alone whether or not he was alive. His aunt was right. They would only take so much before they started getting frustrated and harassing the police department, demanding answers.

 

"I'm sure you'll catch the guy soon," he encouraged. "Or he'll be caught here if he shows up." Though given what he knew about the attacker, Blaine wasn't sure how he would ever afford a flight to England. The guy probably didn't even have a passport. But he knew better than to underestimate criminals. He learned that the hard way.

 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

 

"Blaine?" Kurt called in a sleepy voice and good God that sounded so adorable.

 

"One minute Kurt!" Blaine called back before lowering his voice. "I have to go Aunt Brenda. Kurt woke up and I think he needs the loo."

 

Brenda laughed. "You were talking to me from the bathroom Blaine?"

 

Blaine groaned. "Well excuse me if I didn't want to risk waking him up by taking the call in the bedroom," he said.

 

Kurt knocked again and Blaine grew a bit worried.

 

"Blaine, I have to pee!" he called.

 

"Be right there Kurt!" Blaine yelled back. "I have to go. But keep me posted best you can. I'll look out for him here."

 

"Thank you Blaine. Good-bye."

 

"Bye," Blaine replied as he hung up the phone. He unlocked the bathroom door and pulled it open to find Kurt standing there in his blue silk pajamas with his arms folded across his chest, looking adorably sleepy with mussed hair and eyes that were half-lidded.

 

"You take phone calls in the bathroom?" Kurt questioned, raising one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

 

Blaine laughed lightly. "Not usually, I just didn't want to wake you, that's all."

 

Kurt couldn't help the swell of warmth that filled him at those words. Blaine was so sweet and generous. God, it was so hard not to like him that way. Oh who was he kidding? Kurt was falling for this boy. And that scared him. It scared him because one day, perhaps very soon, he would have to leave and he might never get to see Blaine again.

 

"Why do you have to be such a sweetheart?" he blurted out. Kurt blushed, clapping a hand to his mouth. Blaine smiled softly and reached up to gently pry Kurt's hand away from his mouth.

 

"Only for you Kurt." Kurt's heart leaped up into his throat and he felt his breath catch. Blaine seriously needed to stop making him fall in love with him for the love of Gaga.

 

"What are you doing up this late anyway?" Kurt managed to ask, voice still tinged with sleep. Blaine thought it was even more adorable. He smiled at him, keeping the hand he had gently pried from Kurt's face, grasped in his own.

 

"Sorry, couldn't sleep." As though wanting to object his point, a yawn chose that moment to make its way out of Blaine's mouth.

 

Kurt giggled. "That yawn would suggest otherwise," he said. Blaine loved the sound of Kurt giggling.

 

"You know, maybe Tristan West would have turned out to be a great guy but I for one like Kurt Hummel much better," he whispered. "Come on, back to bed."

 

Kurt yawned and gazed at him with sleepy eyes. "No, you go to bed. I have to pee," he said.

 

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Thank you for that over share," he joked.

 

Kurt decided to get just a little bit sassy. He threw a seductive look over his shoulder as he sauntered into the bathroom. "Would you rather I said I needed to jerk off?" he asked before firmly shutting the door, leaving Blaine standing there in shock, blush spreading from his hairline all the way down his neck.

 

Kurt - one, Blaine - zero.


	7. Complications In The Form Of A Meerkat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rest in peace Cory Monteith. If it's too painful for you to read me writing Finn, I completely understand. Thoughts and prayers to his family and loved ones.
> 
> Also, sorry I got so lazy because I've had this story written up to chapter nine and I just haven't taken the time to give the next chapter.
> 
> And this chapter introduces Sebastian. I personally can't stand him but he plays an important role in the plot so he had to be used. Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

Static rippled through the connection as a man looking for an escaped witness attempted to hear through the earpiece on his end of the bad connection.

 

"He's here in London. I'm pretty sure his little friends are too," came the voice of the person who was acting as the man's intel. Though he could barely make as much out because the connection was so bad.

 

"Are you sure?" he growled into the phone. It did not please him that the faggy boy was in another country. How the hell was he supposed to get there?

 

"Positive," came the static reply. "He's enrolled at Dalton Academy. Got one Blaine Anderson swooning all over him," the intel said.

 

The man grunted. "I could care less about his faggy relations. I just want to make sure I can get him."

 

The intel chuckled lightly. "Trust me, he's here." With that said, the intel hung up the phone leaving a dial tone to replace the static of the bad connection. The man grunted into the pay phone and hung it up.

 

Well, if London was where he needed to go, than London was where he would get. The only question was how was he going to get there?

 

* * *

 

The Monday of his third week at Dalton was the first that tells Kurt that perhaps he wasn't going to escape complete torture here after all. That day, was the day a particularly sleazy Warbler returned from studying a few weeks abroad.

 

Kurt was sitting next to Blaine at the breakfast table, in full Tristan mode as he was obviously in the school's public eye. As usual the fedora was sitting atop his head though later at night, when Kurt and Blaine were alone in their dorm room, and he often complained about it giving him hat hair, the fedora had become Tristan's signature.

 

"Blaine!" cried an unfamiliar voice. Kurt glanced up from his English muffin - ironic, sure - and his eyes came to rest on a boy he didn't recognize who was easily sliding himself into the seat beside Blaine. Kurt was sitting across from Blaine on this particular day.

 

The look on Blaine's face clearly told Kurt that he was about to painstakingly accept this boy's presence.

 

"Hello Sebastian," he replied, not impolitely but Kurt knew him well enough by now to detect the underlying irritation in his tone.

 

The boy called Sebastian grinned from ear to ear, a sleazy grin, like a tiger on the prowl. Kurt instantly became aware that despite being British, this boy knew absolutely nothing about boundaries. He harbored an instant dislike for the kid who had a weird sort of meer kat face and what Kurt would call, obnoxious CW hair. There was no harm in playing a little Kurt into Tristan, whom also did not care for the boy. He would just be more direct about it.

 

Sebastian ran a finger teasingly along Blaine's chin. "Did my boy toy miss me?" he purred. Kurt wanted to vomit.

 

"I'm not your boy toy Sebastian," Blaine replied cooly, carefully plucking Sebastian's hand from his chin and shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

 

"Oh come now baby, don't be like that," Sebastian said, reaching out a hand to stroke him again. And this was where Tristan actually became interesting.

 

What Kurt did then was something he never would have done himself but he wasn't Kurt right now, he was Tristan.

 

Instinctively, he reached out his own hand and wrapped it firmly around the boy's wrist. Startled, Sebastian turned to look at him, eyes smoldering into Kurt's elaborate swirl of blue, green, and gray.

 

"I believe Mr. Anderson did not wish to be touched," Kurt ground out in a dark voice. Wow, Tristan had some guts. Not to mention his voice, which was rarely heard as Tristan rarely spoke, had cut through the dining hall like a knife, instilling silence as all eyes turned on them. Even Finn had stopped with his fork half-way to his mouth.

 

Sebastian roughly threw Kurt's hand from his wrist and glowered at him.

 

"And who in the Queen's name are you?" he asked rudely.

 

Kurt didn't back down. He stared at Sebastian, looking bored as Tristan tended to look nearly all the time. Slowly, he took another bite of his muffin and chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

 

Still staring at Sebastian, Kurt swallowed the bite and cleared his throat. "Tristan West, Blaine's roommate."

 

At this news, Sebastian's eyes turned dark and he looked at Blaine. "You were supposed to keep that spot vacated so I could move in when I got back!" he spat.

 

"Why? So you could play animal with someone who is clearly not interested?" Kurt said. A few gasps went up in the room for more than one reason. For one, the American transfer was challenging Sebastian Smythe of all people and no one ever did that. For another, this was the most anyone had really heard Tristan say at one time.

 

"Who asked you?" Sebastian spat.

 

Kurt ate the last bite of his muffin and calmly stood up from the table, still wearing Tristan's trademark bored and I don't care expression.

 

"You are a snooty preppy little rich boy who is also a native of England. I would think you'd be able to afford some manners but apparently they are way too expensive and useful for you to spend your trash pounds on. What do you use them for? Sex toys and hookers?"

 

This stunned everyone in the entire room, including Sebastian, Blaine, and Finn. But it stunned Kurt most of all. Even channeling a fictional character, he had never expected something like that to come out of his mouth.

 

Shocked at himself, Kurt picked up his bag and ran from the room.

 

"Tristan!" Blaine called, leaping from the table to go after him. Sebastian grabbed his wrist.

 

"Let the ill mannered unfortunate bastard go," he snarled. Blaine yanked out of his grip and fixed Sebastian with a fiery gaze. He was done being polite.

 

"No!" Blaine said forcefully and with that, he hurried out of the room.

 

* * *

 

Blaine was so worried about Kurt that he skipped out on his morning classes. Kurt was in the first two but he hadn't shown up by the bell for the first one, which Blaine had only gone to because he hadn't found Kurt by the time the warning bell for class rang. He had figured he would just see him in class and Kurt was never late so he knew something was up when he didn't show.

 

He was currently walking the hallways of the school, looking for any signs of his roommate. He already knew that Kurt hadn't gone back to the dorms. He'd checked there more than once.

 

Blaine was just about to give up and report him missing to the office when he heard it. The clear sound of the piano being played in the student commons.

 

Quietly, the curly-haired boy followed the playing he knew had to be Kurt because he'd never heard anyone else play so effortlessly. He came to a halt by the door and listened for a moment. He could tell that Kurt was singing as well but he couldn't make out what it was.

 

Cautiously, Blaine opened the door and peeked his head into the room. There sat Kurt at the piano, fingers flying across the keys. The fedora was sat on top of the piano. Kurt's head was thrown back and his eyes were shut and though he was across the room at the door, Blaine could just make out the glimmer of tear tracks streaking down the pale boy's beautiful face.

 

_Don't make me close one more door_

_I don't wanna hurt anymore_

_Stay in my arms if you dare_

_Or must I imagine you there_

_Don't walk away from me_

_Don't walk away from me_

_'Cause I have nothing nothing nothing_

_If I don't have you_

 

Blaine was mesmerized by Kurt's tantalizing voice. His tone beautifully amplified the lyrics and he could hit the incredible range one had to sing to nail this song. It was one of the most iconic of Whitney Houston's career. Singing it was a death sentence if you didn't have the pipes for it.

 

The British boy listened quietly until Kurt had sung the last note and played the last key before he made his presence known by clearing his throat.

 

Kurt looked up. "Shouldn't you be in class?" he asked gently.

 

Blaine took a few tentative steps forward and offered the boy a gentle smile. "I'll make it up later. I was worried about you. You left in such a huff this morning."

 

The pale boy turned his head away and stared at the piano bench, trying to hide the emotion playing across his face.

 

"I'm fine," he said. Blaine turned and locked the inside of the door to the student commons before he approached the piano.

 

"You are not fine Kurt. What you said to Sebastian this morning, got to you, didn't it?" Kurt managed to look up at him. How was it that they were only in their third week of knowing each other and Blaine already seemed to know him so well? Even though half the time, Kurt had been someone else to him. It was kind of scary.

 

"I never imagined myself ever saying anything like that to anyone, not even channeling a heartless guy with an I don't care attitude like Tristan. It's not in me to just not care even a little," Kurt replied honestly. "What am I doing to myself Blaine?"

 

The curly-haired boy quietly sat beside him and cupped Kurt's cheek in his hand. "You're not doing anything to yourself Kurt," he said gently. "If anything, I think this whole Witness Protection Program thing is getting to you a bit."

 

Kurt leaned into his touch and just looked at him for a moment. "What do you mean?" he asked.

 

Blaine stroked his cheek. "You want to just be you so badly that it's building pent up frustration, which is being released in unfamiliar ways," he told him.

 

Blaine did make a good point. Kurt sighed and rested one of his hands atop Blaine's stroking over the back of it with his thumb as Blaine continued to stroke his cheek.

 

"I just want to go home," he admitted quietly. "I'm so tired of being something I'm not. I want to be me again, laugh with my friends, go back to McKinley, even getting slushied would be nice."

 

Blaine looked confused. "Slushied?"

 

Kurt chuckled lightly. "Us Glee kids at McKinley are on the bottom of the food chain. A slushie is a frozen beverage. They come in different flavors. Anyway, the jocks like to throw them in our faces," he explained.

 

Blaine looked appalled. "That's horrible Kurt," he said. Kurt just shrugged.

 

"I'm used to it," he replied, as though it were no big deal and for him, it really wasn't anymore. He sighed heavily. "I want to go home and be me again so badly, but at the same time, I don't want to leave you," he said honestly, turning to face Blaine.

 

Blaine continued to stroke his cheek. "I promise you Kurt, when you finally are safe to go home, that won't be the end of us. Now that you've entered my life, you can't get rid of me and I can't get rid of you. And frankly, I don't want to." He was quiet for a moment as Kurt just stared back at him. "I can't imagine my life without you in it Kurt."

 

The pale boy's breath hitched and he couldn't help it anymore. He found himself leaning closer to the other boy and was surprised to find Blaine leaning in as well.

 

They got closer and closer, one more millimeter and their lips would touch. And then…

 

…the bell rang.


	8. Bait And Bad Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens! Don't you just hate the interwebs criminals seem to be connected to? The danger increases because now the rest of ND and Mr. Schuester are at mercy. And Kurt knows something's wrong. Comments make me smile. Enjoy!

The mood in the choir room at McKinley High School back in Lima was solemn. Four of the New Directions had vanished without a trace almost three weeks earlier and no one was doing a thing about it. The worst part was that all four of them were extremely important members of the club.

 

Rachel was their star and female lead. Finn was their male lead and Rachel's co-captain. Mercedes was their soul with the powerhouse voice and Kurt was their favorite gay with the most impressive vocal range of any guy they'd ever heard. What were they going to do without them?

 

Nothing anymore. They had to withdraw from the competition season because they were under twelve members and had only managed to find one replacement, Lauren Zizes. There wasn't much point in gathering in the choir room now but it was the one place that gave them some sense of hope.

 

"They're still alive, right?" Tina Cohen-Chang asked glumly. All the remaining New Directions sat in the choir room during lunch hour on Monday of the third week of their friends' disappearance.

 

Quinn Fabray sat in the back between her fellow Cheerios Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. She was picking hopelessly at the salad she had in her lap. None of them had much of an appetite.

 

"They haven't found a body yet," she said, eyes on her miserable salad.

 

Tension filled the room. It was at that moment that a commotion was heard in the hall and the next thing the group knew, Mr. Schuester, the choir director was being shoved into the room. It took them all a moment to notice the shiny blade of a knife pressed to the teacher's neck as he was held in the arms of an unfamiliar man.

 

"Nobody move!" the man grunted. The room was still, fear gripping each and every person in this room. And how in the world had this guy slipped past security or not been seen? Really, McKinley was that stupid and blind they couldn't see a hostage situation materializing? Stupid Principal Figgins.

 

The man moved Mr. Schue to the front of the room, keeping the knife pressed to his neck.

 

"Okay listen up brats," the man snarled. "You're going to do everything I say or your beloved teacher here is going to meet an early grave, got it?!" he snapped. They all nodded quickly. Even Noah Puckerman knew this wasn't a time to be a badass and dick around.

 

One might wonder what the man was doing there or how these kids would be of any use to him. Just because he was a criminal didn't mean he didn't have a brain. After receiving a first name from the brunette girl he'd questioned almost three weeks earlier, he had done research at the library. Wasn't hard when he found that the fag's name was Kurt Hummel and he was a sophomore at McKinley High. His intel in London - yes he had intel everywhere - had confirmed Kurt was at Dalton Academy and now, he'd been working to find a way there. He had that much covered but he needed bait when he arrived.

 

"So, I've got a friend who is willing to fly us all to London, England. We're going to go, now." One of them looked like they were going to protest and he pressed the knife a little harder into Will's neck. Just enough that a trickle of blood dribbled down from the mark of the blade.

 

Quinn looked horribly frightened, Tina squeaked and paled slightly, Brittany just looked utterly confused, Santana looked like she wasn't sure whether to laugh, cry, or scream for help. As for the remaining guys and Lauren, their expressions were all unreadable.

 

"Everybody up! Now!" he shouted. The kids scrambled out of their seats, grabbing their belongings. The man kept the knife to Will's neck and ordered them to start out. He kept behind them to make sure none of them tried to run off.

 

Not a single one of them wanted to disobey this guy because he looked like he meant business. None of them had any idea why he was keeping them hostage and carting them off to London either. But they were soon to find out.

 

* * *

 

Their supposed flight was not in luxury either. The plane was a cargo jet, perfect for smuggling in foreigners so they wouldn't have to bother with passports. The moment they had all piled into the cargo hold, the man had tied them all up and kept the knife to Will's throat, threatening the worse if anyone made any sudden moves.

 

"I suppose you're all wondering why I'm taking you to England," the man drawled sometime into the flight. The glee kids were tired, scared, and hungry but no one dared to fall asleep. Not to mention the lack of a bathroom on this plane. There was a small one in the pilot's cockpit but there was no way the man was going to let them go there.

 

Not only had he tied them up but he had gagged them all as well. Also, he'd dumped Artie's wheelchair off the plane before take off, leaving him completely helpless to get around. As a result, he and Puck had been tied together. Sam was tied to Mike. Brittany was tied to Santana. Quinn was tied to Tina. And Lauren was tied to a large box that no one dared to question what was inside.

 

The man's beady eyes watched them for a moment. "You're all going to be my bait," he finally said. He watched the kids exchange glances between each other before leaning forward and ripping Puck's gag from his mouth. "You can be spokesman!" he ground out with a sneer.

 

Puck swallowed, clearly trying to maintain his bad boy image. "What do you mean bait?" he asked the question, not daring to get snarky with this guy. Puck was a badass but he wasn't stupid.

 

"You see, your little friend Kurt," the man started, sneering more and the glee kids all jumped alert. He knew something about Kurt! "Well, he saw me doing something he wasn't supposed to. Little faggot ran! Called the cops and now he's in a little thing known as the Witness Protection Program."

 

Suddenly, Kurt and Finn's disappearance made a lot more sense to the New Directions. As did the fact that cops kept skirting around the case. They knew where Kurt and Finn were but they couldn't say anything of course. But that didn't explain why Rachel and Mercedes were missing.

 

"What about Rachel and Mercedes?" Puck again asked the question that was on everyone's mind. Did this guy know what happened to them too?

 

"The short obnoxious brunette and the fat girl?" the man sneered. Lauren had the nerve to glare at the comment. She resented that remark and she was quite sure Mercedes would too.

 

"You have some nerve dude," Puck said. Wrong thing apparently because the man briefly pressed the knife into Will's neck, drawing another dribble of blood.

 

"Watch yourself mohawk boy," he ground out. "I only wanted information on your little faggot friend. They called the cops on me too. So looks like you'll find them in London as well but I don't care about them. Just Kurt."

 

Puck narrowed his eyes. It would be just like Rachel to spill everything about Kurt to this guy or at least something he could use to find out more information. He didn't go that road though.

 

"How do you know where Kurt is?" he asked instead. That was a good question and several of the others were nodding.

 

The man smirked. "I'm not stupid. I have intel everywhere. My source in London is very informative." He apparently decided that was enough questions because he leaned forward and put the gag back in Puck's mouth. "We're done talking."

 

Not another word was spoken for the rest of the flight.

 

* * *

 

Kurt was severely tense. He didn't have the slightest idea why. But his gut was twisting in a way that told him something was very very wrong.

 

Blaine picked up on it that night, when they were at dinner. Kurt was merely pushing his pasta noodles around on his plate and staring off into space. He wasn't even channeling Tristan right then. A clear way to make everyone else wonder what was wrong with him.

 

Finn could tell something was bothering his stepbrother as well but he couldn't find a way to call him out on it without bringing attention to the situation. He glanced at Blaine hopefully and the curly-haired boy nodded. Finn didn't know that Blaine knew the truth about why they were there but he did know that his stepbrother had quickly gotten incredibly close to his roommate.

 

Blaine set down his fork and pushed his plate to the end of the table for the dining hall staff to collect. Kurt looked over at it curiously.

 

"Blaine, you barely ate any of that. Aren't you hungry?" he asked, not really noticing that given the fact he hadn't even taken a bite of his own dinner, his concern was exceedingly pointless.

 

Blaine looked at him for a moment. "There are more important things right now than me finishing dinner," he said. Kurt gave him a strange look. "And you hardly have room to talk. You haven't even taken a single bite of your own dinner since we sat down," he pointed out.

 

Kurt looked down at his plate as though just realizing it was there. He widened his eyes slightly and sighed heavily, pushing the untouched dish to the end of the table.

 

"I'm not really hungry," he said quietly.

 

Blaine raised an eyebrow before his face took on a worried look and he leaned across the table in order for Kurt to be the only one to hear him.

 

"Is this about what almost happened earlier?"

 

Kurt could hear the panic in Blaine's voice. It took him a moment to realize what he was referring to but as soon as he did, he quickly shook his head and reached out to grab one of Blaine's hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze before dropping it reluctantly. He didn't want to let go of the other boy's hand. He could feel the jolting electrical current that spread up his arm every time it happened.

 

"No of course not." Kurt sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I just…I don't know. I've got this really awful feeling in my gut and it's growing by the second. I don't know what gives but I just feel like something really bad is about to happen."

 

Blaine looked at him for a moment before he stood up and offered his hand to him. "Come on, we're going back to the room," he said. Kurt was confused but he took Blaine's hand anyway and let the curly-haired boy lead him up to their dorm on the fourth floor.

 

They were quiet the entire trip up to their room, both milling in their own thoughts. Blaine could feel the tension Kurt was harboring just through the grip he had on his hand. 

 

Blaine was trying to figure out what he could possibly do now. He didn't know whether Kurt's feeling had anything to do with his situation or if it was for another reason entirely. Either way, he couldn't call his aunt with Kurt present. That was not something he needed Kurt learning about just yet. He made a split second decision as he slipped his key in the lock and opened the door.

 

Always the gentleman, Blaine let Kurt enter the room first and shut the door behind them. He moved to sit on his bed and pulled out his phone, searching through his contacts until he found who he was looking for. He hit the call button and placed the phone to his ear.

 

"Why Blaine Anderson, to what do I owe this honor?" came the answer as the other person picked up.

 

Blaine sighed. "I don't have time for flirting right now Erica," he said seriously. Kurt, who had been pacing the room with his arms wrapped tightly around his body, looked over at him in confusion. He was in the middle of a situation right now and Blaine was calling a girl? Wait, that didn't make sense in the first place because Blaine was gay.

 

"Did something happen?" Erica responded, voice going all serious.

 

"Not exactly," Blaine replied, looking up at Kurt. "Tristan isn't feeling the best of sorts and I was wondering if you might allow Amanda to speak with him," he went on. Kurt didn't get what he was talking about until he remembered Amanda was Rachel's fake name and Erica was her roommate. Blaine was attempting to get him a conversation with Rachel.

 

When Erica responded, she sounded confused. "What help would talking to Amanda do? Tristan barely knows her."

 

Blaine bit his lip, remembering that the two of them hadn't really socialized since that first mixer. Erica didn't know that Tristan and Amanda knew each other really well. Only Blaine knew that; well, of the people who weren't supposed to know. He needed to figure out a way to get Erica to let Kurt talk to Rachel without being too suspicious.

 

Thinking quickly, mind reverting to that night, he said, "Well, he really likes her, if you know what I mean. And I don't know about you but talking to someone I like is always soothing for me," he said.

 

Kurt gave him an impressed look. Though the idea of him liking Rachel was appalling. But it was something. And Kurt wasn't sure what he would tell Rachel when they got on the phone.

 

"Fair enough," Erica replied. Blaine let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "One second." He waited a moment while Erica apparently handed over her phone and then Rachel's voice came on the line.

 

"Hello?" she questioned.

 

"Hi Amanda," Blaine greeted. "This is Blaine, from Dalton?" he questioned, not sure if Rachel remembered him.

 

"Yes, I remember," she said and Blaine could hear her confusion.

 

"Tristan wants to talk to you," he said, putting a kind of teasing sound in his tone, attempting to make it sound like he thought Tristan wanted to have a private conversation. They were supposed to have had sex after all.

 

"Oh, okay," Rachel said, still confused.

 

Blaine pulled the phone away from his ear and held it out to Kurt. "Do you want me to leave the room?" he asked him, thinking he would give him privacy anyway.

 

Kurt shakily took the phone from him and shook his head. He thought he would be better off with Blaine there for moral support. Blaine just nodded gently and sat back on his bed.

 

Kurt brought the phone up to his ear. "Hey Manda," he said, feeling weird calling Rachel that. He attempted to sound flirty and bit his lip. "Do you think Erica could give you some private time? I've already got Blaine to leave the room." He did feel guilty lying to her but what Rachel didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

 

"Hang on a sec," she said. There was a short muffled discussion and then Kurt heard what sounded like a door shutting before Rachel came back on the line. "Kurt what's wrong?" she asked. She knew that something had to be up.

 

Kurt sighed. "I don't know Rach. I've just had this really bad feeling quelling in my stomach since late this afternoon. Like something bad is about to happen."

 

Rachel was silent for a moment. "You don't think he knows do you?" she asked in a worried voice.

 

Kurt's eyes went wide momentarily. He wanted to believe that it wasn't possible for him to know but the man was a criminal. There was no way of telling what he knew or what kind of connections he had. For some reason, that thought caused Kurt's mind to cook up an image of Sebastian. He'd only met the sleazebag that morning but there was something he just really didn't like about the guy.

 

"I have no idea," he said finally. "The thought terrifies me. Criminals can have connections anywhere," he replied.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Blaine's eyes narrow slightly in concern. Kurt couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face then. The fact that Blaine cared so much made his heart swell.

 

Rachel drew a breath on the other end of the line. "The only thing I can say is that we better stay on our guard. It's really too bad we can't tell the people around us. Then maybe we could get back up."

 

Kurt bit his lip and looked at Blaine, knowing he'd already broken the confidentiality rule by telling him but he wasn't about to confess that to Rachel.

 

"Fill Mercedes in," he said instead. "I don't know what this feeling means, but it's telling me things are about to get very very ugly."

 

There was silence for a moment before Rachel responded in a very hushed voice that was completely out of character for her. "I won't let you get hurt Kurt, I promise," she said.

 

It was those words that shook Kurt to his core because he knew that even if his attacker had gotten to Rachel, he was the one in real danger. He was the one who knew about the murder. He was the one the attacker was really after. He was the one who needed to be protected.

 

"Thank you Rachel," he replied quietly. Though he knew he couldn't see it, he was sure she was nodding.

 

"What are friends for?" she asked.

 

After that, they exchanged good-byes and Kurt hung up Blaine's phone, handing it back with a sigh.

 

"Better?" Blaine asked, hesitantly.

 

"No," Kurt admitted, dropping down on the bed next to him. Blaine instinctively pulled the pale boy into his arms without a second thought. Kurt buried his face in the other boy's neck, eyes brimming with tears and wetting the soft skin he was pressed into.

 

The truth was, Rachel had just given him a lot to think about. What if his feeling did have something to do with the attacker? What if the guy knew where to find him? What if he was on his way there right at that very moment? But that was overreacting right?

 

As he would soon learn, maybe overreacting wasn't such a bad thing.


	9. The Truth Comes Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This might be the last chapter for a bit. I still haven't finished writing chapter ten but I'll get it done asap! Kurt is about to find out some truth about Blaine and an adventure begins. Comments make me smile! Enjoy!

What Blaine didn't want Kurt to know yet all came out in the open the very next day. It was a Tuesday morning and Dalton boys were lounging in their rooms because morning classes had been cancelled for a staff meeting. Blaine had managed to swipe some ice cream from the kitchen and he and Kurt were divulging in it while watching a musical on Blaine's laptop.

 

There came a knock on the door. Kurt groaned as he was incredibly comfortable still in his pajamas and wrapped in a plethora of blankets. He didn't want to answer the door at all. He was still feeling off and scared.

 

Without missing a beat, Blaine dropped a kiss to the pale boy's head, which had the latter blushing furiously at the unexpected affection. Carefully, Blaine slid out of the bed and went to answer the door.

 

Sebastian was leaning against the door to the room across the hall. His arms were folded across his chest and he had a rather irritated look on his face. A small box sat at his feet.

 

"About time," he spat out, studying his nails.

 

"What do you want Sebastian?" Blaine asked, narrowing his eyes.

 

At the sound of the meer kat boy's name, Kurt groaned and threw the comforter over his head. The movie was paused on the screen so it wasn't like he was missing anything. Not like he hadn't seen it before anyway.

 

"I was asked to deliver this to you and Tristan," Sebastian said in a smirky tone of voice. He gestured to the small package beside him. "I have no intentions of handing it to you so you can pick it up yourself." He looked pissed off.

 

Blaine picked up the box gingerly, clearly confused about what it could possibly contain. A hasty unfamiliar scrawl addressed the package to Blaine Anderson and Roommate. Suspicion crept up Blaine's spine. He had a feeling this package was really meant just for Kurt. This was bad.

 

"Thank you Sebastian," he said. He didn't give the boy a chance to respond before shutting the door in his face.

 

Kurt threw the comforter back off, intending to go on a tangent about Sebastian when he saw the box in Blaine's hand and the look on his roommate's face.

 

Dread filled the pale boy as he sat up quickly. Blaine walked over to him and sat next to him.

 

"We don't have to open it," he said shortly and that was all Kurt needed to hear to know that Blaine suspected something about this strange package.

 

The sixteen year old shook his head. "No. I need to know what's in it Blaine," he said, surprised at how calm and steady his voice sounded.

 

Blaine looked at him for a moment, as though trying to read between the lines of the boy's expression. He sighed when he realized Kurt was completely serious about this and slowly nodded his head.

 

Kurt pulled the package gently out of Blaine's hands and grabbed a nail file off the bedside table. He used it to slit through the tape sealing the box shut. Yanking up the flaps with a bit of force that shook the bed slightly, he swallowed heavily. He had no idea what he was about to find in the box.

 

Closing his eyes, Kurt stuck his hand in and groped around. The first thing his fingers gripped was a thin rectangular piece of cardboard. Kurt extracted it and carefully opened his eyes. He was staring at the back of what appeared to be a postcard. Four words had been scrawled across it.

 

'Wish you were here.'

 

Kurt swallowed again and with a shaky hand, slowly flipped the card over. The moment his eyes rested on the picture, the pale boy dropped the postcard as though he had been burned.

 

It was one of those make your own postcard types, where the image on the front was a personal image. The picture showed the rest of the New Directions and Mr. Schue. They were all bound and gagged and appeared to be sitting in a dank basement or cellar or something. Who would do something that sick? And was that dried blood on Mr. Schue's neck?

 

"Kurt what is it?" Blaine asked, voice growing concerned. Kurt shook his head frantically, hand clasped to his mouth and choked sobs wracking his throat.

 

Blaine carefully picked up the postcard and looked at it. His face went white with realization. "Are these your friends?"

 

Not able to say anything, Kurt just nodded. The attacker had the rest of the New Directions.

 

Blaine carefully set the postcard aside and reached a hand in the box. He pulled out a small tape recorder. He gave Kurt a look, knowing that it was really up to him whether or not he played the tape. Though if he chose not to, Blaine was going to keep it and play it for his aunt later when he had time alone.

 

"Play it," Kurt choked out after several long moments.

 

"Are you sure?" Blaine asked, not wanting to do something that might be regretted later.

 

Kurt nodded. "I need to know. That tape can be used as evidence for the police," he said. Blaine figured he did have a point. Well of course he knew that. It was why he planned on playing the tape for his aunt later.

 

Reaching out with his free hand to take ahold of Kurt's for moral support, Blaine pressed play on recorder. Kurt immediately recognized the voice as belonging to the man that had attacked him.

 

"Hello faggot," it snarled. "I have some words for you but I thought it might be more endearing to have someone else deliver my message for me." There was a snicker and the sound of someone being shoved forward. Kurt cried out as the new voice came on.

 

"Kurt? It's Puck," it said. Kurt was trembling so bad, Blaine released his hand and pulled the terrified boy into his warm embrace. "Listen…this guy, I don't want to scare you." Puck let out a hiss at the resounding smack as he was obviously struck across the face. "He knows where you are Kurt. He knows you're in London."

 

Kurt felt himself freeze up. How did he know? The next words were spoken by the attacker again.

 

"And someone else has some more information for you faggot," he sneered.

 

"Dolphin?" It was Brittany. Blaine gave Kurt a momentary funny look but Kurt shook his head as if to tell him he'd explain later. "Dolphin, Uncle Charles says you need to come to him or he's going to make you your very own red lake."

 

Kurt felt a shiver of terror run up his spine. Red lake? Did she mean that he was going to draw blood? Judging by Mr. Schue in the picture, he already had.

 

"That means if you don't turn yourself in," came the snarl of the attacker again, "Your friends are going to learn the meaning of the term blood bath. Get the picture? Pleasure doing business with you fag."

 

The tape stopped and Kurt sat there shaking. If he didn't turn himself in, the attacker was going to start offing his friends. His friends were going to die because of him.

 

Blaine immediately shot up from the bed and went to the closet. He pulled out both his suitcase and Kurt's and started hastily packing them both.

 

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked, surprised he could talk at all.

 

"I'm getting you out of here. We're going to my grandmother's in the countryside."

 

Kurt was surprised. "What?! No! Blaine I can't just run! I have to go! I have to save them!" he cried sobs breaking out and tears spilling over his eyes.

 

Blaine stopped his packing and walked over to him, gently placing his hands on his shoulders.

 

"A few things Kurt. I know you want to save your friends." He took a deep breath and gave his head a shake. "Let me tell you something I've learned from my Aunt Brenda. One, never blindly walk into a hostage situation without a formulated plan. Two, the absence of a deadline is a sign that he is likely hesitant to follow through on his murder threat, regardless of whether he's killed or not before. And three, don't go after somebody without either knowing where they're located or backup."

 

Kurt looked at him, completely confused and not knowing how Blaine knew so much about police work or hostage situations.

 

Blaine sighed. "You know how when you confessed to the Witness Protection thing I told you there was something I wanted to be honest about too?" he asked, returning to the task of tediously packing suitcases.

 

"Yes. What about it?" Kurt said, astonished he was still speaking at all right now.

 

"I'm going to tell you now," Blaine replied. Yeah, it was before he meant to but with the danger suddenly dropping to the red zone, it was relevant. Especially if he wanted the most important part of what he had to say to make sense.

 

"Okay." Kurt wasn't angry at Blaine. He was just really surprised and he understood that Blaine, like him, had been keeping this for a reason.

 

"I was born in Westerville, Ohio," Blaine started and Kurt's eyes got wide. "My parents were deemed unfit parents a matter of weeks after I was born and as a result, Cooper and I were sent to live with our paternal grandparents who have a cottage in the British countryside," Blaine continued. He waited a moment for Kurt to acknowledge all of this.

 

"Go on," the pale boy said quietly.

 

All the while, Blaine continued to pack their things. "My father grew up in England but made a living for himself in the States where he met my mother. My mother's sister, my Aunt Brenda, has kept in contact with us. You might know her."

 

Kurt became confused. "Sorry, how would I know your aunt?" he asked.

 

Blaine looked over at him with a gentle smile. "You know her as Detective Nelson of the Columbus Police Department." Well this was certainly news to Kurt. He hadn't been expecting that at all. "There's a reason you were sent here Kurt. My aunt wanted me to keep an eye on you."

 

Kurt narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit betrayed. He had confessed something to Blaine that Blaine had known all along. Why the hell hadn't he told him?

 

"And why would you be able to keep an eye on me? You're just as much a kid as I am!" Kurt snapped, eyes flashing with hurt and betrayal. Blaine cringed. He was afraid this would happen.

 

"I have junior division police training Kurt," he replied as calmly as he could.

 

This seemed to make Kurt even more upset and he rolled his eyes. "Oh whoopidoo! Perfect Blaine Anderson who knows how to do everything! In case you haven't noticed, I can take care of myself Blaine! I don't need a fucking baby-sitter!"

 

Blaine felt pain like a knife to the chest spread through him but he had told himself this might be the reaction he'd get from Kurt. Not because he was offended by it or anything but because he didn't think it was relevant for Kurt to know about it. He knew he was taking a risk by deciding it would be better for him to just pretend like he was just as clueless as everyone else.

 

"I know Kurt. But I haven't been a baby-sitter. I've been your friend." Kurt opened his mouth to retort but Blaine rushed on. "My instructions were to just act as if I normally would unless a situation arose where I needed to take action. If that happened, I was ordered to get you out, which is exactly what I'm doing. My grandmother knows everything. She's prepared for us to just show up."

 

Kurt turned his head away and stuck his nose in the air. Clearly this wasn't going to be an easy fix at all. Blaine sighed and continued with the packing. He didn't know what else to do. He was at a loss and he was pretty sure any hope of maybe having something more with Kurt had just gone out the window. He'd ruined everything. He'd blame his Aunt Brenda but he was the one who decided it would be better if he didn't tell Kurt anything. He was afraid if he knew what Blaine's real stance in this was, he would be hesitant to form any kind of friendship at all. And now it looked as though Kurt was never going to trust Blaine again. Boy, he'd really fucked this one up.

 

"What about Finn? And Rachel? And Mercedes?" Kurt finally asked, voice quiet but tone cold.

 

Blaine turned to look at him. "As long as you're the only one the attacker is threatening," he said, "They're not in any immediate danger."

 

Kurt blanched. Sure, it was nice that his other friends might be in the clear for now but he wasn't going to just up and leave them without telling them where he was going. And Finn was his stepbrother for fuck's sake! Not to mention he was a year older than Kurt. If Kurt randomly disappeared and his dad found out about it, Burt would have Finn's head. He was supposed to keep an eye on him.

 

"Are you fucking crazy?" he spat. "I can't just leave them! My dad will have Finn's head if I randomly disappear. And just because they're not in danger now doesn't mean they won't be!"

 

Blaine sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Your dad already knows that this was a possibility." Kurt's expression fell.

 

"He what?" he asked, voice suddenly tiny and quiet. The thought that his dad knew all about this and hadn't said a thing to Kurt, hurt him more than words could ever express. "He knew? He knew and he never told me?"

 

"Because I begged him not to. He didn't want to lie to you Kurt, said you wouldn't take it well, but I begged him not to tell you anything."

 

Kurt just looked at him. "Why would you do that? Why would you coerce my dad into lying to me?" His voice was more a sound of disbelief now rather than cold and harsh.

 

Blaine sighed and shut his suitcase, finally turning to face Kurt. "I made a bad judgment all right? I was afraid if you knew the truth, you wouldn't want to be my friend. The decision not to tell you was my own, nobody else's. I was insecure."

 

Kurt froze. All the anger seemed to wash right out of him. Blaine had kept this from him because he thought he wouldn't want to be his friend? Blaine was crazy if he ever thought that someone wouldn't want to be his friend.

 

"Why would you think that Blaine?" he asked sincerely, getting up from his spot on the bed and carefully approaching him.

 

Blaine looked nervous. "I haven't always been liked for being honest Kurt. It's true that England is vastly open-minded but I came to Dalton because I was beat up pretty badly at a dance for showing up with another guy at my old school." Kurt's eyes were wide as saucers.

 

"I can't see why anyone would want to bully you," he said. "You're perfect." The last words were barely a whisper but as he said them, Kurt found that he believed them. Blaine really was perfect.

 

Blaine gently shut Kurt's suitcase before turning to face him. "I'm far from perfect Kurt," he said gently.

 

"You're perfect to me," Kurt replied, not caring anymore and just wanting to get it all out.

 

A sad smile crossed the boy's face. "I lied to you Kurt."

 

The pale boy shook his head. "No Blaine. You were insecure about me. There's a difference." He bit his lip and the two of them moved just a little bit closer, inching in, both of them wanting to take that last step. "I forgive you," he whispered.

 

And they were right there again, millimeters from having their lips touching before Blaine remembered himself and knew this wasn't the time.

 

"Get dressed," he said reluctantly pulling back. Kurt looked just as disappointed as Blaine felt. "We have to get going."

 

A sigh fell from the other boy's lips as he realized Blaine was right. Now was not the time but damnit, if he didn't get to kiss Blaine soon, he'd go crazy.

 

With those thoughts and many others wafting through his head, Kurt grabbed his Dalton uniform and disappeared into the bathroom. They were they only things Blaine had left out of the suitcase.

 

Oh well, it was probably a smarter move. Should the attacker catch sight of them, he might think they were merely going on a visit and then returning to Dalton. Can't really detect much mischief when you traveled in school uniform.


	10. The Journey Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess it didn't take me incredibly long to finish this chapter. There is some informative stuff in here! Comments make me smile! Enjoy!

Kurt still felt a little guilty for leaving Dalton without saying anything to Finn but he figured that Blaine's aunt would somehow get word to his parents so Finn should find out by extension. He hoped anyway. Unless the plan was not to tell Finn anything. But Kurt would trust Finn with a secret before he would trust Rachel.

 

His eyes were fixated on the window of the train they were taking out to the country. Blaine was well endowed obviously and had easily purchased two one-way tickets. Nothing out of the ordinary had befallen them on their way to the train station. At least, not that Kurt had noticed.

 

A frustrated sound from Blaine had the pale boy snapping his head around to look at his companion who was now pressing buttons furiously on his phone.

 

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked. He had to restrain himself from adding the term of endearment at the end he so desperately wanted to toss out right then. But seeing as how they were not a couple, it wouldn't have been appropriate. At least, not the one he was thinking anyway.

 

Blaine let out a frustrated growl - a sound Kurt thought was extremely sexy - and pocketed his phone, turning to flash Kurt an apologetic smile.

 

"It's just Wes. He gets really pissy when I have to do police business, especially if I can't give him a time of return," Blaine said, shaking his head in frustration. "He means well, but I think he thinks the fate of the Warblers is more important than anything else in the world."

 

Kurt blinked. "Including saving someone's life?"

 

Blaine sighed. "Including saving someone's life," he confirmed, staring so intently at the back of the seat in front of him that Kurt wondered if he might burn a hole in it just with his eyes.

 

"He needs a brain operation," Kurt replied. Blaine bust up laughing and Kurt smiled softly at him. "Music and show choir is great but I think I'm a little more important right now."

 

Blaine shook his head. "No Kurt. You're way more important right now," and Kurt's smile grew even more. "And you're beautiful when you smile like that."

 

Kurt blushed. "Thank you," he said sweetly.

 

"You're welcome," Blaine replied tentatively. The two of them sat there staring at each other. Kurt was visited by the strong overwhelming desire just to crush his lips over Blaine's and never let go.

 

Blaine seemed to be thinking the same thing for in the next moment, he had gently raised a hand to cup Kurt's cheek and he was leaning in, just like the previous times. Kurt shut his eyes in anticipation just like the previous times. And this time…

 

"Pardon me but would you be Mr. Blaine Anderson?" They were interrupted just like the previous times. Kurt felt the frustration flooding through his body. He wanted to kiss Blaine so badly so why the hell did the world have to keep interrupting them?

 

This time, it came in the form of a conductor and Kurt took note of the bottle of wine in his hands.

 

"Yes, that would be me," Blaine replied suspiciously. And was that frustration Kurt detected in his voice?

 

"This is for you Mr. Anderson," the conductor replied cheerfully, presenting the wine bottle. "Compliments of Mr. Smythe in the car ahead of yours."

 

Blaine blanched. What the hell was Sebastian doing on the train? And how did he know that Blaine and Kurt were aboard? Something was off.

 

"Thank you," Blaine said tersely, taking the wine bottle. The conductor nodded and strolled off. Blaine pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialed and placed it to his ear. "Wilson, it's Blaine. I need a car waiting for me pronto," he said. "Yes, that would be where. We've run into a bit of trouble and need to vacate the train immediately," he explained. "Thank you. Cheerio!" He hung up the phone and stood from his seat.

 

"Blaine?" Kurt questioned.

 

Blaine glanced down at him. "Prepare to get off Kurt, as we will be at the next stop. There should be a car waiting for us when we get there," he told him.

 

Kurt looked confused but set about putting away the few things he had out to keep himself occupied as Blaine pulled their luggage from the rack above their heads. The train began to slow as it neared the next stop.

 

"Does this have something to do with Sebastian being on the train?" he asked hesitantly.

 

"It has everything to do with Sebastian being on the train," was Blaine's reply. He grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him along to the train doors closer to the car behind them. The conductor had already said that Sebastian was in the car ahead of them. Blaine wanted to minimize the chance of the boy seeing them get off as much as possible.

 

 Kurt was astounded. He hadn't expected Blaine not to trust Sebastian. But he had to admit that it was a bit suspicious and concerning that Sebastian not only knew they were on the train but was on the train as well. Was he following them?

 

The guy after him had intel in London. The fact that Sebastian was in the middle of their get away situation when no one should have even known about it put Kurt on edge.

 

Of course, the idea that the meerkat boy was just insanely jealous that Blaine seemed to like Kurt and was spying on them and following them was plausible as well. Had he not been the one that delivered the package that morning? The one that had lead to them being on this train in the first place?

 

Wait, why had Sebastian delivered it? What was in it for him aside from seeing Blaine when he first woke up in the morning? But he couldn't really see that because Blaine had already been awake, regardless of the fact that the two of them had still been in their pajamas.

 

Kurt's mind was swirling with the thoughts and ideas and well, he wondered if these were the same reasons Blaine wasn't taking any chances right now. It didn't matter if Sebastian's intentions turned out to be innocent jealousy, the curly-haired boy was certainly not taking any chances and Kurt was grateful to him for that.

 

The train trundled into the station and Blaine kept his eyes focused on the door, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for it to open. He hadn't let go Kurt's hand, a fact that secretly had Kurt feeling giddy.

 

The moment the train came to a complete stop and the door opened, Blaine pulled Kurt off and quickly moved through the station, their hands still linked. Kurt's other hand was wrapped around the handle of his luggage and he could hear the wheels of it rolling along the ground as they hurried through, disappearing into the crowds.

 

Blaine kept glancing over his shoulder, purposefully mingling into the crowds of people just in case Sebastian had managed to follow them off the train. If he had, the boy was taking no chances in the other keeping sight of them.

 

Blaine stayed quiet as they hurried through the station and out the front doors to where a car was waiting for them. He pulled Kurt over to the car and helped the driver load their suitcases into the trunk, still glancing over his shoulder before hurrying Kurt into the backseat of the car and sliding in beside him.

 

The car had just pulled away from the station when sure enough, Sebastian exited the front doors. The train was leaving too and Blaine heaved a sigh of relief, leaning back against the seat.

 

"He's following us," Kurt stated the obvious, watching as the furious meerkat boy who was stomping in anger grew smaller and smaller the further they drove from the station.

 

"Which is precisely why I got you off the train immediately," Blaine said. "The car will drive us the rest of the way."

 

Kurt frowned. "Isn't that kind of far?" he asked.

 

Blaine shrugged. "It's safer. Sebastian will be halted for a while trying to figure out how to continue to follow us."

 

"Do you think he knows where we're going?"

 

Blaine sighed and ran a hand over his face, giving his head a shake. "Honestly, I don't know Kurt." Kurt frowned. That wasn't reassuring. "I do know that if he was intending to keep us from noticing his presence, it was a stupid thing for him to deliver the wine."

 

Kurt looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, I think it's the conductor's fault." Blaine gave him a look. "As much as I hate Sebastian, I don't think he's stupid enough to want you to know who the wine was from. I doubt the conductor thought you would accept the bottle if you had no idea who had sent it."

 

Blaine was quiet for a moment. Kurt was right. Sebastian never would have wanted him to know if he wanted to make himself scarce. He knew Blaine was smarter than to keep going about his business like it wasn't unusual. On the other hand, what reason did Sebastian have for Blaine not to know he was there? He had always worked his ass off to make sure Blaine was very aware of his presence.

 

"He knows something," Blaine said quietly.

 

Kurt just stared at him. "What?"

 

Another sigh left the British boy. "Sebastian's always adamant that I'm aware of his presence. So why would he want to hide it from me? He knows something."

 

Kurt was extremely quietly for several minutes. The idea that Sebastian might just be the man's intel was a lot more real now than it had been initially.

 

The very idea caused a lump to form in his throat.

 

* * *

 

"They got away because of a stupid conductor!" the boy spat into the phone.

 

There was a grunt on the other line. "And why is this the conductor's fault?" the man growled out.

 

The boy huffed. "Because he gave Blaine my name. I know he did, even after I specifically told him not to," He replied. He was going to bash that conductor over the head the next time he saw him if he ever saw him again.

 

"Perhaps you shouldn't have had the wine delivered to him in the first place," the man grunted. "This isn't a peace offering you imbecile!"

 

The other scoffed and stuck his nose in the air. "Excuse me for getting my hopes up that when this was over I could get a little something something from Blaine sex-on-a-stick Anderson."

 

"Don't hold your breath you sleaze! Where are they going?" the man grunted.

 

The boy sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I don't know. Blaine has a target destination but I have no idea what it is. Not like he tells me things about his life." The man could detect the irritation in the boy's voice.

 

"Well you had better figure it out and get there! Kidnap Kurt if you have to but he belongs to me!" he ground out. "Do I make myself clear?"

 

The boy nodded and bit his lip. "Don't worry, I'll fix it. You have my word. I want that lady gay face away from my Blaine!"

 

There was a disgusted sound on the other end of the line.

 

"I don't care about you getting what you want but if you flaunt your disgusting gayness in my ear again I will break every bone in your body!" he spat out. "Got it?"

 

"Yes sir," the boy replied quickly.

 

"Good."

 

There was a click as the phone was hung up and he sighed. Where the hell did he go from here? He couldn't very well just go back to London. And he had no idea where Blaine was taking that boy. It seemed that getting the two of them separated was going to be a lot harder than he initially thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me for delaying the kiss again! I promise you, it's just as hard for me to keep delaying their relationship as it is for you to read it being delayed. I normally don't have enough resolve to hold it off.


End file.
